Pasquale Villari

Pasquale Villari (1827–1917) was an Italian historian and politician. Born in Naples, he took part in the revolution of 1848 and then went into exile in Florence, where he made his career as a scholar and teacher. His biographies of Girolamo Savonarola and of Niccolò Machiavelli, set against the history of their times, won international reputations and were translated into English by his wife, Linda Villari. He also wrote on the early history of Florence and the barbarian invasions of Italy. A senator and briefly minister of education, he drew attention to the poverty of southern Italy in influential letters.