Born Mar. 28, 1817, in Morra Irpina, present-day Morra de Sanctis, Avellino Province; died Dec. 29, 1883, in Naples. Italian literary historian, critic, and public figure.
De Sanctis was active in the national-liberation movement (the Risorgimento), and his creative works reflect revolutionary democratic ideals. After the unification of Italy, he was minister of education. De Sanctis’ most important Works are Critical Essays ( 1866), A Critical Essay on Petrarch ( 1869), A History of Italian Literature (1870), and New Critical Essays (1872–79). His posthumously published works are Leopardi (1885) and Italian Literature in the 19th Century (1897).
In the early years of his career, De Sanctis was associated with Italian romanticism, whose most progressive tendencies he expressed. His views were formed under the influence of Vico and Hegel. In the second half of the 1860’s the materialist tendencies in De Sanctis’ philosophy and the realistic tendencies in his aesthetics became stronger. His works heavily influenced verist poetics. The work A History of Italian Literature gives a sweeping view of the history of literary development.
De Sanctis was highly esteemed by A. Gramsci, who noted his humanism and “the fervent ardor of a party man” in him (Izbr. proizv., vol. 3, Moscow, 1959, p. 502). Italian progressive (particularly Marxist) literary scholars, like N. Sapegno, G. Petronio, and C. Salinari, have extensively used and developed De Sanctis’ legacy.
R. I. KHLODOVSKH