View source for Luigi Albertini

{{Short description|Italian politician (1871–1941)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox person
|image       = Luigi Albertini.jpg
|caption     = '''Luigi Albertini'''
|birth_date  = {{birth date|1871|10|19|df=y}}
|birth_place = [[Ancona]], [[Kingdom of Italy]]
|death_place = [[Rome]], Kingdom of Italy
|death_date  = {{death date and age|1941|12|29|1871|10|19|df=y}}
|nationality = [[Italian people|Italian]]
|alma_mater  = [[University of Turin]]
|occupation  = 
|spouse      = 
|children    = 
|parents     = 
|relations   = 
|awards      =  
}}
'''Luigi Albertini''' (19 October 1871 – 29 December 1941) was an influential Italian newspaper editor, member of the [[Italian Parliament]], and historian of the [[First World War]]. As editor of one of Italy's best-known newspapers, {{lang|it|[[Corriere della Sera]]}} of Milan, he was a champion of [[liberalism]]. He was a vigorous opponent of [[socialism]] and [[clericalism]], and of [[Giovanni Giolitti]] who was willing to compromise with those forces during his time as [[prime minister of Italy]]. Albertini's opposition to the [[Italian fascist]] regime forced the owners to fire him in 1925.<ref>Niek Nelissen, "The Corriere della Sera and the Rise of the Italian Nationalist Association." ''European History Quarterly'' (1982) 12#2 pp: 143-165.</ref>

Albertini was an outspoken [[anti-fascist]] even though at one time he supported the [[National Fascist Party]] for opposing the Left. From 1914 to [[Benito Mussolini]]'s [[March on Rome]] in 1922, he was a [[member of Parliament]] in the [[Italian Senate]], where he was a key intellectual and moderating force.

==Life==
{{Expand section|early years|date=January 2011}}
Albertini was born in [[Ancona]] on 19 October 1871. After reading law at the [[University of Turin]], he moved to London in 1894 where he was a foreign correspondent for ''[[La Stampa]]'' of Turin.<ref name="Albertini-editorial">''Albertini-editorial''</ref> While in London, he investigated labour conditions and studied the organization of ''[[The Times]]'' newspaper. In 1898, he joined the Milan newspaper {{lang|it|Corriere della Sera}} as an editorial assistant,<ref name="Albertini-editorial"/> working under Eugenio Torelli Viollier and then Domenico Oliva. In the spring of 1900, Viollier died and Albertini took his position as managing editor, and a few weeks later director.<ref name="Albertini-editorial"/> He also invested in the paper. He installed modern equipment and updated the paper's technical services. Under Albertini's direction, {{lang|it|Corriere della Sera}} became the most widely read and respected daily paper in Italy. In November 1925, the paper's owners, the Crespi family, sacked him because of his public stance against the [[Fascist regime in Italy]]. His last editorial was included in the 29 November 1925 edition.<ref name="Albertini-editorial"/>

After that, Albertini withdrew from public life and retired to his model estate at Torre in Pietra, near Rome. There, he dedicated his time to managing the estate and reclaiming land on it. He also extensively researched Italy's role in the First and Second World Wars. He wrote his memoirs,<ref name="Albertini(1950-3)">''Albertini'' (1950-53)</ref> and had just completed his three-volume seminal work on the origins of the First World War when he died on 29 December 1941 in Rome.

==Legacy==
Albertini's three-volume, titled ''The Origins of the War of 1914'',<ref name="Albertini(1942-1943)">''Albertini'' (1942-1943)</ref> was his highest achievement and brought him world fame. He researched and wrote it with the assistance of Luciano Magrini, a former {{lang|it|Corriere della Sera}} foreign correspondent who was skilled in German. From 1928 to 1940, Magrini interviewed many of the protagonists of the First World War. He obtained numerous documents that are reproduced in the work, which was published in Italian in 1942 and 1943.<ref name="Albertini(1942-1943)"/> It was translated into English by Isabella Massey and published by [[Oxford University Press]] in 1953.<ref name="Albertini(1953)">''Albertini'' (1953)</ref>

{{blockquote|The bedrock of all discussion remains L. Albertini's ''The Origins of the War of 1914''… which provides a detailed chronology of the crisis and excerpts from the most important documents.|John Keegan, author of ''The First World War''<ref>{{cite book|last1=Keegan|first1=John|title=The First World War|date=1999|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|location=New York|isbn=0-375-40052-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/firstworldwar00keeg_0/page/450 450]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/firstworldwar00keeg_0/page/450}}</ref>}}

The first biography of Luigi Albertini was authored in 1945 by his brother Alberto,<ref name="Albertini-A(1945)">''Albertini-A'' (1945)</ref> which was published in Italian in 1945. Since 1965, Ottavio Barié, formerly of the political science facility at Rome's [[Catholic University of the Sacred Heart]], has had access to Albertini's huge correspondence, which he has edited and published. He also researched and wrote a second biography, ''Luigi Albertini'',<ref name="Brié(1972)">''Brié'' (1972)</ref> which was published in Italian in 1972.

==Notes==
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=Albertini |first=Alberto |year=1945 |title=Vita di Luigi Albertini |trans-title=The Life of Luigi Albertini |publisher=Mondadori |location=Roma }}
* Albertini, Luigi (1942–1943) ''Le origini della guerra del 1914'' (3 volumes). [[Fratelli Bocca]], Milano
* Albertini, Luigi (1953) ''Origins of the War of 1914'' (3 volumes). [[Oxford University Press]]. London. Translated from [[Italian language|Italian]] by Isabella Massey. [http://www.librarything.com/work/375921 Vol. I] [http://www.librarything.com/work/1029638 Vol. II] [http://www.librarything.com/work/1029635 Vol. III]
* Albertini, Luigi (2005) [Orig pub.1952–1957] ''Origins of the War of 1914'' (3 volumes). Enigma Books. London. {{ISBN|1-929631-26-X}}  New Introduction by Samuel R. Williamson. [https://www.amazon.com/Origins-War-1914-Set/dp/192963126X Amazon]
* {{cite book |last=Albertini |first=Luigi |year=1950–53 |title=Venti anni di vita politica |trans-title=Twenty Years in Politics: The Memoirs of Luigi Albertini |publisher=N. Zanichelli |location=Bologna |oclc=557276759}}
* [http://www.uga.edu/italian/novecento/13.htm Luigi Albertini's last editorial in the {{lang|it|Corriere della Sera}} (translated into English)]
* Barié, Ottavio (1972) ''Luigi Albertini''. Unione tipografica editrice torinese, Torino. (Luigi Albertini biography)
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |last=Devendittis |first=Paul |year=1976 |title=Luigi Albertini: Conservative Liberalism in Thought and Practice }} Review Article from ''European History Quarterly'' Vol. 6 #1 (1 January 1976) pp.&nbsp;139–146 [http://ehq.sagepub.com/cgi/pdf_extract/6/1/139 Sage Journals On Line, preview of page 1]
*{{cite book |last=Herberiches |first=Celesta |year=1967 |title= The Corriere Della Sera and Fascism: A Chapter from Italian Press History }} Article from ''International Communication Gazette'' #13 (1967) pp.&nbsp;338–361 [http://gaz.sagepub.com/cgi/pdf_extract/13/4/348 Sage Journals On Line, preview of page 1]
* Schmitt, Bernadotte E. "The Origins of the War of 1914," ''Journal of Modern History'' (1952) 24#1 pp.&nbsp;69–74 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1871982 in JSTOR], detailed review

==External links==
*{{Commons-inline}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Luigi Albertini |sopt=t}}
* [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/12907/Luigi Luigi Albertini from Encyclopædia Britannica Online]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Albertini}}
[[Category:19th-century Italian journalists]]
[[Category:20th-century Italian journalists]]
[[Category:1871 births]]
[[Category:1941 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Ancona]]
[[Category:Members of the Senate of the Kingdom of Italy]]
[[Category:Politicians of Marche]]
[[Category:Italian newspaper editors]]
[[Category:Italian male journalists]]
[[Category:Manifesto of the Anti-Fascist Intellectuals]]
[[Category:University of Turin alumni]]
[[Category:Italian magazine founders]]