13 Facts About Vincenzo Cuoco

Vincenzo Cuoco is mainly remembered for his Saggio Storico sulla Rivoluzione Napoletana del 1799.

Vincenzo Cuoco is considered as one of the precursors of the realist school and Italian liberalism.

Vincenzo Cuoco influenced many subsequent Italian intellectuals, from Ugo Foscolo and Alessandro Manzoni to Bertrando and Silvio Spaventa to Benedetto Croce and Antonio Gramsci.

Vincenzo Cuoco was born into a middle class family in the town of Civitacampomarano, near Campobasso in the Molise region of central Italy.

Vincenzo Cuoco's father was Michelangelo Cuoco, a lawyer and economist, while his mother was Colomba de Marinis.

Vincenzo Cuoco studied in his native town under Francesco Maria Pepe, then moved to Naples in 1787 to study jurisprudence and become a lawyer, but instead found himself attracted to economics, philosophy, history, and politics.

In Naples he had the opportunity to meet some of the prominent intellectuals of Southern Italy, including Giuseppe Maria Galanti, who in a letter to Vincenzo Cuoco's father described the young man as capace, di molta abilita e di molto talento, although trascurato and indolente ; Galanti was probably not entirely satisfied with Vincenzo Cuoco's collaboration on his Descrizione Geografica e Politica delle Sicilie.

Vincenzo Cuoco took refuge first in Paris, then in Milan, where he published his main work.

In 1806 Vincenzo Cuoco returned to Naples, as Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies had been deposed in favour of Giuseppe Bonaparte.

Vincenzo Cuoco was given significant responsibilities in the public administration, first as Consigliere di Cassazione, then as Direttore del Tesoro ; he distinguished himself as one of the most important councilors of the government of Joachim Murat.

Vincenzo Cuoco wrote for the magazine Monitore delle Due Sicilie, and founded the Giornale Costituzionale delle Due Sicilie.

In 1815, after Ferdinand I was restored to the throne following the Battle of Tolentino, Vincenzo Cuoco retired from politics.

Vincenzo Cuoco reportedly destroyed some of his writings, had frequent breakdowns, and became increasingly apathetic and withdrawn from social life.