Pierre Milza (16 April 193228 February 2018) was a French historian. His work focused mainly on the history of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, the history of Italian immigration to France and the history of

fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and t ...

, of which he was a recognized specialist. He was professor emeritus at the

Paris Institute of Political Studies , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public research university'' Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , accreditation ...

(Sciences Po), where he taught contemporary history. Pierre Milza is notably the author of ''Voyage en Italie'', or "History of Italy", as well as of biographies of

Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until Fall of the Fascist re ...

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A neph ...

and

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, pat ...

Early life

Milza was a second-generation Italian immigrant, born in

Paris, France Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

to Italian parents. His father, Olivier Milza, was born near Parma in

. His status as an immigrant motivated his studies in Italian history and Italian-French immigration. Milza first visited Italy at 16, learned Italian and began to study history.

Distinctions

* Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters * 1994: Grand Officer of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-rankin ...

* 2008: Commander of the

National Order of Merit An order of merit is conferred by a state, government or royal family on an individual in recognition of military or civil merit. Order of merit may also refer to: * FIFA Order of Merit, for significant contribution to association football * PDC ...

* 2013: Commander of the

National Order of the Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

(named Officer in 2000) Milza was a member of the

François Mitterrand François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he ...

Institute.

Publications

Throughout his career, Milza wrote many books about fascism and the history of Italy. In addition to these publications, Milza devoted time to writing biographies for different figures including

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his '' nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—e ...

and

Independently

* * * * ** Volume I: De 1945 à 1973 ** Volume II: De 1871 à 1914 * ''Conversations Hitler-Mussolini'' * * (2 volumes) * * * * * ''Mussolini'' * * * * * ''Voltaire'' * ** Volume I: ** Volume II: * * * ''Garibaldi'' *

With Serge Berstein

Milza collaborated with fellow historian Serge Berstein to produce academic works and textbooks. * * * * * * * * (5 volume series) * * * * *

Other collaborations

* (with Marianne Amar) * (with Marie-Claude Blanc-Chaléard) * (with Marianne Benteli) * (with Antoine Marès)

References

External links

* 1932 births 2018 deaths 20th-century French historians Historians of fascism French people of Italian descent Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Commanders of the Ordre national du Mérite French male writers Historians of Italy Sciences Po faculty Historians of World War II Historians of France Writers from Paris {{France-historian-stub