Leo Samuele Olschki (born Lev Samuel Olschki; 2 January 1861 – 17 June 1940) was an Italian publisher of Prussian Jewish origin.

Biography

Leo Olschki was born on 2 January 1861 in

Johannisburg Pisz (pronounced , previously also ''Jańsbork'', german: Johannisburg) is a historic town in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship in northern Poland, with a population of 19,466 (2016). It is the seat of Pisz County. Pisz is situated at the junct ...

, a town in

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

, into a family of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

printers Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person or a company * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer ( fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * Jame ...

. He learned the bookseller trade in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

in the historic Calvary bookshop. In 1886 he founded the Leo S. Olschki publishing house in

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

, which was then moved to Venice and Florence (1897). He also subsidized newspapers such as ''Giornale Dantesco'' and ''La Cultura'', but during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he moved to

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, in neutral territory. In fact, Olschki did not have Italian citizenship, having kept a German passport, and was forced into exile. In Geneva he founded the ''salso'' (acronym for ''Societé Anonime Leo S. Olschki''). In 1920, after the war, he returned to Italy. For his work, he obtained such recognition as the appointment as Commander and Knight of the

Grand Cross of the Crown of Italy The Order of the Crown of Italy ( it, Ordine della Corona d'Italia, italic=no or OCI) was founded as a national order in 1868 by King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II, to commemorate Italian unification, the unification of Italy ...

, but was again forced into exile due to racial laws, as a Jew. He then returned for the second time to

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

in 1939, where he died in 1940.

Bibliography

* C. Frati, ''Editori italiani: Leo S. Olschki'', in «L'Italia che scrive», IV, 1921, pp. 159–160 . * L. S. Olschki, ''Aus den Erinnerungen eines Dante-Verlegers'', in «Deutsches Dante-Jahrbuch», XV, 1915, pp. 132–140 . *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olschki, Leo Samuele 1861 births 1940 deaths Italian people of Jewish descent Italian publishers (people) People from Pisz Deaths in Switzerland Emigrants from the German Empire Immigrants to Italy