1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Sanctis, Francesco de

SANCTIS, FRANCESCO DE (1817–1883), Italian publicist, was born at Morra Irpino, and educated at the institute of the Marchese Basilio Puoti. Becoming a teacher in a private school of his own, he made a name as profound student of literature; and after the troubles of the ’48, when he held office under the revolutionary government and was imprisoned for three years at Naples, his reputation as a lecturer on Dante at Turin brought him the appointment of professor at Zurich in 1856. He returned to Naples as minister of public instruction in 1860, and filled the same post under the Italian monarchy in 1861, 1878 and 1879, having in 1861 become a deputy in the Italian chamber. In 1871 he became professor at Naples University. As a literary critic, De Sanctis took a very high place, notably with his Storia della letteratura italiana (2nd ed., 1873) and with his critical studies, published in several volumes, some of them since his death at Naples in 1883.