Enrico Ferri

Born in San Benedetto Po in 1856, Enrico Ferri became one of the best-known figures in the Italian school of criminology. A student of Cesare Lombroso, he is remembered for widening the discussion of criminal behavior by emphasizing social and economic conditions alongside individual factors.

Ferri wrote influential works on criminal law and criminology, including Criminal Sociology, and he taught and lectured widely. His work helped popularize a more systematic, supposedly scientific approach to understanding crime at a time when modern criminology was still taking shape.

He was also active in politics, serving in the Italian parliament and taking part in public debates on socialism, justice, and legal reform. Ferri died in 1929, leaving a legacy that remains important in the history of criminology, even though many ideas from his era are now debated or rejected.