The Diaspora of Italian Economists: Intellectual Migration Between Politics and Racial Laws

Based on a definition of diaspora as “dispersion or spread of any people from their original homeland” (OED), this chapter aims to examine the main phenomena of the intellectual migration of Italian economists during the twenty years of fascism. The study aims to present a first overview of the times, modes and places of this diaspora, examining its different typologies: expulsion from teaching for political reasons (Attilio Cabiati, Francesco Saverio Nitti, Antonio Graziadei and Umberto Ricci), withdrawal to private life in order not to take the oath of loyalty to the Fascist Party (Antonio De Viti de Marco), the search for solid and secure academic positions abroad (Piero Sraffa), the obstacles to the entry of young professors in the university staff (Dino Jarach and Franco Modigliani), the economists imprisoned (Arturo Labriola and Antonio Pesenti) or confined (Ernesto Rossi). Also for a question of numbers, the work identifies the racial laws of 1938 as the fulcrum of the narrative. For each of the ten professors discriminated against by this legislation (Gino Arias, Riccardo Bachi, Roberto Bachi, Gustavo Del Vecchio, Marco Fanno, Bruno Foà, Renzo Fubini, Gino Luzzatto, Giorgio Mortara, Angelo Segré), essential indications are given on the dynamics of dismission from academic ranks, the places of destination and, when this happened, the time of their reintegration and the reasons for eventual refusals. Added to this are the personal stories of the three economists affected by racial laws when they were already retired as university professors (Riccardo Dalla Volta, Augusto Graziani and Achille Loria) and the tragic death in Auschwitz Birkenau concentration camp of two professors (Riccardo Dalla Volta and Renzo Fubini).