Francesco Fiorentino (Sambiase, 1 May 1834The historian L. Lo Bianco indicates his birth date as 10 May 1834. – Naples, 22 December 1884) was an Italian philosopher and historiographer.

Biography

He was born in Sambiase (now Lamezia Terme) on May 1, 1834. His father was Gennaro Fiorentino, a chemist and a

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist (Commonwealth English) or a druggist (North American and, archaically, Commonwealth English), is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls and distributes medicines and provides advice and instructi ...

, and his mother was Saveria Sinopoli. He was educated by Giorgio and Bruno Sinopoli, the uncle and the brother of his mother, respectively. He studied literature and theology, but he quit in 1851. After two years spent in Sambiase studying theology, he moved to Catanzaro where he studied jurisprudence, but he couldn't graduate because he was just 19. Even if he was

short-sighted Near-sightedness, also known as myopia and short-sightedness, is an eye disease where light focuses in front of, instead of on, the retina. As a result, distant objects appear blurred vision, blurry while close objects appear normal. Other sympt ...

and he never shot a gun before, Fiorentino attempted to take part in the Expedition of the Thousand, but he failed. When he met

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, patr ...

in Maida, Fiorentino's quoted to have said to him "Viva l'annessione, vogliamo l'annessione!", which in English is "Horray for the annexation, we want the annexation!". After the

Italian unification The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...

he became a teacher of philosophy in a Liceo in Spoleto, Umbria.

Works and thoughts

In 1861 he moved from Spoleto to Maddaloni, near Naples, where he published: ''Il Panteismo di Giordano Bruno'' (''The Pantheism of

Giordano Bruno Giordano Bruno (; ; la, Iordanus Brunus Nolanus; born Filippo Bruno, January or February 1548 – 17 February 1600) was an Italian philosopher, mathematician, poet, cosmological theorist, and Hermetic occultist. He is known for his cosmologic ...

''). Fiorentino used to compare himself to

for their similar character and to Vincenzo Gioberti for their similar political views. Thanks to this book he became a teacher at the University of Bologna in 1862. He stayed there for nine years, and here he wrote many books, like ''Pietro Pomponazzi ''or ''Scritti varii''. In 1871 he moved to Naples to teach

philosophy of history Philosophy of history is the philosophical study of history and its discipline. The term was coined by French philosopher Voltaire. In contemporary philosophy a distinction has developed between ''speculative'' philosophy of history and ''crit ...

. He lived there with Restituta Trebbe, a woman that he loved intensely. They had four sons. In 1875 Fiorentino started to teach theoretical philosophy at the University of Pisa. There he wrote ''Elementi di filosofia ad uso dei Licei'', an important schoolbook used for decades for the teaching of philosophy in the liceo. In 1880 he came back to Naples to teach philosophy at the university again. He founded the ''Giornale Napoletano'' in 1883. After being elected two times as a Deputy in the Italian Parliament (the first in 1870 and the second in 1874) he tried to be elected again in 1882, but he failed. He died in Naples on 22 December 1884 of a heart attack, at age 51. In 1887 his remains were transferred to Catanzaro, where a memorial for him was built. Another memorial was built in 1909 in his hometown, Sambiase. Despite the fact that he taught in public school for twenty-four years, his family didn't receive any pension because of six missing months of teaching.

Books

* ''Volgarizzazione dell'Itinerario della mente a Dio di S. Bonaventura, dei Libri del Maestro, Dell'immortalità dell'anima e Del libero arbitrio di S. Aurelio Agostino, del Proslogio di S. Anselmo'', Messina, 1858 * ''Il panteismo di

'', Naples, 1861 * ''Historic assay of Greek philosophy, ''Florence 1864 * '' Pietro Pomponazzi, studi storici sulla scuola bolognese e padovana del secolo XVI'', Florence, 1868 * '' Bernardino Telesio, ossia studi storici sull'Idea della Natura nel Risorgimento italiano'', Firenze, 1872-1873 * ''La filosofia contemporanea in Italia'', Naples, 1876 * ''Scritti vari di letteratura, poesia e critica'', Naples, 1876 * ''Elementi di filosofia'', Naples, 1877 * ''Della vita e opere di Vincenzo de Grazia'', Naples, 1877 * ''Manuale di storia della filosofia'', Naples, 1879-1881 * ''Elementi di filosofia'', Naples, 1880 * ''Il Risorgimento filosofico nel Quattrocento'', Naples, 1885 e 1994

Note

Bibliography

* G. Galati, ''Interpretazione dell'opera di Francesco Fiorentino'', in «Archivio storico della filosofia italiana», 1936 * G. Oldrini, ''La cultura filosofica napoletana dell'Ottocento'', Bari, 1973 * P. Di Giovanni, ''A cento anni dalla nascita dell'idealismo italiano'', from «Bollettino della Società Filosofica Italiana», 2000

External links

* Luca Lo Bianco,
FIORENTINO, Francesco
�, from ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'', Volume 48, Rome, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 1997. * Simonetta Bassi,
Francesco Fiorentino e Felice Tocco
», from ''Il contributo italiano alla storia del Pensiero – Filosofia'', Rome, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2012. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fiorentino, Francesco 1884 deaths People from Lamezia Terme 1834 births Italian philosophers Academic staff of the University of Pisa