Antonio Labriola

Born in Cassino on July 2, 1843, Antonio Labriola was an Italian philosopher and Marxist theorist who studied under the Hegelian thinker Bertrando Spaventa. He became a professor of philosophy at the University of Rome in 1874, where he built a reputation as an influential teacher as well as a serious scholar.

Labriola is often remembered as the first major figure to present orthodox Marxism in Italy in a systematic way. Even though he was not an active member of a Marxist political party, his ideas traveled widely and left a mark on thinkers across the Italian political spectrum, including Benedetto Croce and later figures such as Antonio Gramsci.

He died in Rome on February 12, 1904. His best-known works include essays on the materialist conception of history and Socialism and Philosophy, writings that still matter for readers interested in the meeting point of philosophy, history, and politics.