Pierre Milza (16 April 1932 –28 February 2018) was a French historian. His work focused mainly on the history of Italy, the history of Italian immigration to France and the history of fascism, of which he was a recognized specialist. He was professor emeritus at the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po), where he taught contemporary history. He also taught for a year at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. Pierre Milza is notably the author of Voyage en Italie, or "History of Italy", as well as of biographies of Mussolini, Napoleon III and Garibaldi.

Early life

Milza was born in Paris, France to Italian parents. His father, Olivier Milza, was born near Parma in Italy. His status as a child of immigrants motivated his studies in Italian history and Italian-French immigration. Milza first visited Italy at 16, learned Italian and began to study history.

Distinctions

Milza was a member of the François Mitterrand Institute.

Publications

Throughout his career, Milza wrote many books about fascism and the history of Italy. In addition to these publications, Milza devoted time to writing biographies for different figures including Mussolini, Voltaire, Garibaldi and Napoleon III.

Independently

With Serge Berstein

Milza collaborated with fellow historian Serge Berstein to produce academic works and textbooks.

Other collaborations