Enrico Ferri

Born in San Benedetto Po in 1856, Enrico Ferri became one of the best-known figures of the Italian positivist school of criminology. A student of Cesare Lombroso, he developed his own approach by giving much more weight to social and economic conditions when explaining criminal behavior.

Ferri wrote extensively on criminal law and sociology, and his book Criminal Sociology helped spread his ideas internationally. Rather than seeing punishment alone as the answer, he argued for prevention and for understanding the wider forces that shape human conduct.

His career was not limited to academic life. Ferri was also active in Italian public life as a socialist politician and journalist, and he directed Avanti!, a newspaper associated with the Italian Socialist Party. He died in Rome in 1929.