Seventy-Five Italians That Changed History

The seventy-five Italians listed in this volume by their actions and/or influence changed the course of history in their field and beyond. This change may have been societal, scientific, ethical, geographic, political, religious or in a number of other different ways.

The change or the evidence of the change may have occurred slowly over years or decades or longer, as was the case as a result of Romulus and Remus’ founding of the city of Rome and the growth of the Roman Empire that occurred over centuries, or suddenly as a result of an event-usually dramatic, such as Christopher Columbus’ discovery of the New World in 1492.

In the selection of Italians, we make no value judgements as to the positive or negative affect that they have had on history. In many cases you may find it to be obvious as in the case of Benito Mussolini having a not so good reputation or Michelangelo as a positive influence. On the other hand, opinions may vary on Frank Zappa. We make no value judgements here only that the persons included changed history.

Those selected are not necessarily persons born in the region or nation of Italy only that their heritage is Italian. Many have ancestry of Italian descent but born outside the peninsula as is the case for Sylvester Stallone. However, the vast majority of those selected were born in Italy or born in Italy and emigrated.

On each page describing each individual we list their biographical information, contributions and evidence we believe justifies their inclusion in this prestigious list. These are short biographies that we hope will inspire you to do further research on those individuals that may interest you further.