Abstract

This paper challenges the long-established belief that only a dozen professors refused to take the oath to the Fascist regime in 1931. It provides evidence that their number is higher, although still undetermined. It argues that the narrative of twelve refusals was instrumental to a political account of the event, and that it was construed on biased information initially provided by the regime. We suggest that the actual effects of the oath on Italian scholarship have been partly concealed by this narrative; and we propose to look at it as an instance of a group of bills that triggered a considerable number of refusals, heavily impacting Italian science and academia.