Giulio Carlo Argan (1909–1992)

Argan was born in Turin, May 17, 1909 and studied in the University of Turin, graduating in 1931. In 1928 he entered the National Fascist Party. In the 1930 he worked for the National Antiquity and Arts Directorate, first in Turin and then in Modena and Rome, where he collaborated to the creation of the Istituto Centrale di Restauro and directed the magazine Le Arti. His career was boosted by the friendship of the Fascist leader Cesare Maria De Vecchi, then national Minister of Education. In 1968 he published his most famous work, Storia dell'Arte Italiana. He was the first Communist mayor of Rome, between 1976 and 1979. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1992. He died in Rome November 12, 1992.