Keywords

• This article reconstructs Giustino Fortunato's cultural and political iter
• his interest in the problems of Italy's Mezzogiorno
• and his part in the cultural current of «meridionalismo».
• Fortunato spoke of the problem of «two Italies» and «two civilizations»
• and his critique was directed towards the ruling class in southern Italy
• and in Naples in particular. In his articles La città e la plebe and La camorra (1878-79)
• Fortunato analyzed the tragic conditions of the popular masses in Naples
• and the link that existed between this social context
• the growth of criminal organizations
• and the responsibilities of the ruling classes. A member of the Italian Parliament starting in 1880
• Fortunato took increasingly liberalist positions.
• His encounter with Gaetano Salvemini and his contributions to the new review L'Unità marked the final important moments in a very interesting cultural and political iter