Le colonie italiane nel pensiero storico e politico di Gaetano De Sanctis

On 19 May 1936, Gaetano De Sanctis wrote a letter to his pupil Piero Treves to clarify his position regarding Italian colonialism in Africa: an attitude coherent with the Catholic will to promote a mission of “civilisation”, understood as a humanitarian commitment to counteract the “barbarism” assumed to be present in these countries. Indeed, De Sanctis, who had opposed fascism in 1931 by not taking the oath imposed on university professors by the regime, supported the fascist conquest of Ethiopia, earning the disapproval and disappointment of some of his students, including Treves. After the request of Luciano Canfora and Mariella Cagnetta in the 70s, Treves referred to the opinions stated by his professor in the letter of 19 May 1936 giving an overall picture of the political and ideological interference in De Sanctis’ work and in his school. In this context, personal relations could play a role in Treves’ analysis and thus in the tradition of contemporary historiographical studies on De Sanctis’ thought.