The Teaching of History

Pasquale Villari (1827-1917), a historian, philosopher, university professor, and Freemason, was one of the great protagonists of Italian culture in his time. A native of Naples, he was a student of Basilio Puoti and Francesco De Sanctis, and in his youth, he took part in the revolutionary uprisings of 1848 against the Bourbons. Subsequently, in 1849, he went into exile in Florence. He served as a senator of the Kingdom of Italy in the 15th legislature and as Minister of Public Education from 1891 to 1892. He authored numerous historical essays, including biographies of Girolamo Savonarola and Niccolò Machiavelli, but is remembered above all for his seminal studies on the Southern Question, which were collected in the work Lettere meridionali.
He was long concerned with the Philosophy of History, and for him, History was a true life mission.
The essay L’insegnamento della Storia (The Teaching of History) is based on the inaugural address for the 1868-69 academic year and was read by Pasquale Villari on November 16, 1868, in the Great Hall of the Higher Institute of Florence. In our opinion, this address is still very relevant, extremely modern, and represents a correct approach for disciplines such as History and Historiography. It is a speech that everyone, from history teachers to university students, should read and, above all, understand.