Italophilia

Italian symbols, appreciated all around the world

Italophilia is the admiration, general appreciation or love of Italy, its culture, society, arts and people. It is often related to the emulation of Italy's ideals and civilization.

Characteristics

Italophilia is very strong in the USA, mainly between the Italian Americans, as can be seen even for the 2006 WorldCup celebrations of the Italian soccer team victory.

The term is used in two basic contexts: in international politics and in cultural context.

"Italophilia", "Italophile", and "Italophilic" are the terms used to denote pro-Italian sentiments, usually in politics and literature.

A huge italophilia started to develop in Europe during the centuries of the Italian Renaissance.

Actually one of the main reasons of Italophilia in the world is that Italy is home to more World Heritage Sites than any other nation in the world.^[1] These sites are culturally important and value according to UNESCO. Indeed about 60% of the works of art of the world are in Italy.

Another reason is the worlwide appreciation for Italian culinary and foods. Italy is also a big wine producer. In 2005 it made over 5 million tonnes, and many italian wines are very famous in the world, like the "Chianti".^[2]

Indeed in the American countries with a huge Italian emigration in the last centuries, there it is a widespread italophilia: Argentina, Brasil, Uruguay, Venezuela, Canada and the USA have millions of Italian descendants who promote in their society the love and appreciation for Italy.

Actually Giorgio Silvestri (director of the "Assemblea legislativa della Liguria") has calculated that there are nearly 250 million italophiles in the world.^[3]

Italophilia Media

Dante Alighieri, whose works helped establish modern Italian language, is considered one of the greatest poets of the Middle Ages. His epic poem Divine Comedy ranks among the finest works of world literature.
The Roman Empire provided an inspiration for the medieval European. Although the Holy Roman Empire rarely acquired a serious geopolitical reality, it possessed great symbolic significance.
William Shakespeare is an example of an Italophile of the 16th century.
John Florio is recognised as the most important Renaissance humanist in England.
The Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., reflects the president's admiration for classical Roman aesthetics.
Pinocchio Disney film is based on The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi.
Augustus, first Roman Emperor, who created for the first time an administrative region called Italia with inhabitants called "Italicus populus"; for this reason historians called him Father of Italians.
Saint Benedict, a patron saint of Europe.
Bologna University, established in 1088 AD, is the world's oldest university in continuous operation.
Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is an Italian art masterpiece worldwide famous.