Salvemini, Gaetano

Salvemini, Gaetano (gäātä`nō sälvāmē`nē), 1873–1957, Italian historian. He taught at the universities of Messina, Pisa, and Florence and also served (1919–21) in parliament. After being arrested in 1925 as an anti-Fascist, he left Italy and devoted his talents to polemic attacks on the Mussolini regime. He lectured (1930–48) on history at Harvard, became (1940) a U.S. citizen, and in 1954 retired to Italy. Although Salvemini wrote chiefly on recent and contemporary history, he was a prolific writer who is also noted for his study of the medieval Italian commune.