Bompiani is an Italian publishing house based in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. It was founded in 1929 by

Valentino Bompiani Valentino Silvio Bompiani (27 September 1898 – 23 February 1992) was an Italian publisher, writer and playwright. Born in Ascoli Piceno ( Marche), in 1929 he founded the publishing house carrying his name, which became one of the most i ...

. In 1990, Bompiani became part of the

RCS MediaGroup RCS MediaGroup S.p.A. (formerly Rizzoli-Corriere della Sera), based in Milan and listed on the Italian Stock Exchange, is an international multimedia publishing group that operates in daily newspapers, magazines and books, radio broadcasting, n ...

. It was sold in 2015 to the Giunti Group. It is widely regarded as one of the leading literary publishing houses in Italy.

History

Bompiani experienced attempts at

book censorship Book censorship is the act of some authority taking measures to suppress ideas and information within a book. Censorship is "the regulation of free speech and other forms of entrenched authority". Censors typically identify as either a concerne ...

by Italy's fascist government from the 1920s through the 1940s. In 1940, Valentino Bompiani was summoned to Rome to meet with

Alessandro Pavolini Alessandro Pavolini (27 September 1903 – 28 April 1945) was an Italian politician, journalist, and essayist, notable for his involvement in the Fascist government, during World War II, and also for his cruelty against the opponents of fascis ...

, the Minister of Popular Culture. At this meeting, Pavolini told Bompiani that he must limit the number of translations that he was publishing. At the time of the meeting, Bompiani was preparing to publish an anthology of American writers. Despite being told not to do so, Bompiani moved forward with the anthology. Pavolini learned of this and wrote to Bompiani that "The United States is a potential enemy of ours...This is no time to perform acts of courtesy toward America, not even literary ones." Bompiani proceeded with publication nonetheless, soliciting a new introduction from

Emilio Cecchi Emilio Cecchi (14 July 1884 – 5 September 1966) was an Italian literary critic, art critic and screenwriter. One English language source describes him as "an 'official' - although radically anti-academic - intellectual". He was made artistic ...

that sought to discourage any "excessive enthusiasm" toward America. Pavolini was placated by Cecchi's introduction and the anthology was ultimately published. In 1972 the company was bought by Fiat Group. In 1990 it became part of

. In October 2015, RCS MediaGroup sold RCS Libri, including Bompiani, to

Arnoldo Mondadori Editore Arnoldo Mondadori Editore () is the biggest publishing company in Italy. History The company was founded in 1907 in Ostiglia by 18-year-old Arnoldo Mondadori who began his publishing career with the publication of the magazine ''Luce!''. In 1 ...

, Italy's largest publisher. Mondadori is owned by

Fininvest Finanziaria d'investimento Fininvest S.p.A., known as Fininvest S.p.A., is an Italian holding company controlled by the Berlusconi family and managed by Silvio Berlusconi's eldest daughter Marina Berlusconi. Structure The Fininvest group is co ...

, a holding company controlled by

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies ...

. The acquisition was controversial. In March 2016,

Italian Competition Authority The Italian Competition Authority ( it, Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato, AGCM) is the competition regulator in Italy. It is an Italian Quango, quasi-autonomous non-governmental organization established on the basis of Law №287 o ...

ruled that Mondadori must sell Bompiani in order to comply with market-share limits. Nine companies, including

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

and

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

, expressed interest in purchasing Bompiani. In September 2016, Bompiani was sold to

Giunti Editore Giunti Editore S.p.A. is an Italian publishing house founded in Florence in 1956. The company is based in Villa La Loggia, in via Bolognese, and affiliated offices in Milan. Giunti S.p.A. is the leader of a group comprising various brands and tha ...

for €16.5 million.

Authors

The list of authors published by Bompiani includes 17

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

winners. Authors published by Bompiani include

Alberto Moravia Alberto Moravia ( , ; born Alberto Pincherle ; 28 November 1907 – 26 September 1990) was an Italian novelist and journalist. His novels explored matters of modern sexuality, social alienation and existentialism. Moravia is best known for his d ...

Umberto Eco Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel ''The Name of the ...

Paulo Coelho Paulo Coelho de Souza (, ; born 24 August 1947) is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist and a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters since 2002. His novel ''The Alchemist'' became an international best-seller and he has published 28 more books ...

and

Yuval Noah Harari Yuval Noah Harari ( he, יובל נח הררי ; born 1976) is an Israeli historian and professor in the Department of History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the author of the popular science bestsellers '' Sapiens: A Brief History ...

among others. .

References

External links

* {{Authority control Book publishing companies of Italy RCS MediaGroup Italian publishers (people)