About
Carlo Ginzburg (1939-2026) was an Italian historian and a leading figure in microhistory. Born in Turin, he was the son of Leone Ginzburg, a philologist and anti-fascist murdered by the Nazis, and Natalia Ginzburg, a novelist. After a PhD in Pisa, he taught at Bologna, UCLA, and the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa. His work, translated into over 30 languages, explores popular beliefs and the margins of early modern society. He notably contributed to the opening of the Vatican's Inquisition archives.
* 1939-04-15 — † 2026-06-17
Major works
- The Night Battles (1966)historical essay
- The Cheese and the Worms (1976)historical essay
- The Enigma of Piero (1981)historical essay
- Ecstasies: Deciphering the Witches' Sabbath (1989)historical essay
- Threads and Traces (2006)historical essay
Key milestones
- 1979Wrote to Pope John Paul II requesting the opening of the Inquisition Archives, which occurred in 1998.
- 2010Awarded the Balzan Prize for European History 1400-1700.
- 2013Elected International Member of the American Philosophical Society.
Themes
microhistorypopular beliefsinquisitionevidential paradigmculture of subaltern classes
Sources: uat.apnews.com · balzan.org · history.web.ox.ac.uk