author
Ernesto Masi
1837–1908
A lively interpreter of Italian history and culture, he wrote about the Risorgimento, the eighteenth century, and the people and ideas that shaped modern Italy. His work blends scholarship with an accessible, narrative style that still feels welcoming to general readers.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born in Bologna and active in public education as well as letters, Ernesto Masi was an Italian historian and writer associated with moderate liberal and secular ideas. Sources agree that he served in the Ministry of Public Instruction, later worked as a school superintendent, and eventually taught the history of the Risorgimento at the Cesare Alfieri institute in Florence.
His writing ranged across political, literary, and social history, with particular attention to the Italian eighteenth century and to the figures and events of the Risorgimento. He published books on ideas, personalities, and historical memory, aiming less at dry academic argument than at clear exposition and vivid cultural portraiture.
There is a small discrepancy in the sources about his birth year: some list 1836, while others give 1837; all agree that he died in Florence on May 17, 1908. For audiobook listeners, he offers the voice of a learned but readable guide to Italy’s long nineteenth century.