Abstract:

In this French scholarship article ‘Freemasonry and the Construction of the Citizen in Italy’, Anna Maria Isastia investigates the contribution of Italian freemasonry to the ‘making of Italians’, a secularized Italian national identity. This project, according to Isastia, created ‘the great utopia’ of Italians living during the second half of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. Isastia analyses how the erection of monuments dedicated to the astronomer Giordano Bruno or the politician Giuseppe Mazzini, the establishment of national days of remembrance, educational programs and a wide range of initiatives within associational life—from insurance companies to evening classes and scouting—or cremation, were initiated or promoted by Italian freemasons. In her brief overview she concludes that more research has to be done on this topic, for instance related to the discourse on women and their position vis-à-vis Italian freemasonry and society.

Author: Anna Maria Isastia