Francesco Alberoni
Encyclopedia
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, and professor in Sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
. He was a Board Member and Senior Board Member (Chairman) of Rai
RAI
RAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...
, the national Italian Television, from 2002-2005.
Alberoni is among the few regular front page writers of Corriere della Sera
Corriere della Sera
The Corriere della Sera is an Italian daily newspaper, published in Milan.It is among the oldest and most reputable Italian newspapers. Its main rivals are Rome's La Repubblica and Turin's La Stampa.- History :...
, Italy's most renowned newspaper, which has published his articles since 1973. He currently holds a 4 column editorial titled "Public & Private" (begun in 1982) for the Monday edition.
Early days
Although Alberoni claims he was a model student and real perfectionist at school, he admits he did not like the military-like discipline imposed on schoolchildren by the Fascist regime. According to his autobiography he was a born leader, who always invented games and adventures for the group of boys who usually gathered around him. Because there weren't any books in his house, he discovered the pleasures of reading only after the end of Second World War in 1945. Reading took most of his afternoons at the City Library, his favoured subjects being history and philosophy.Alberoni studied at the Liceo Scientifico, and then moved to Pavia
Pavia
Pavia , the ancient Ticinum, is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 35 km south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It is the capital of the province of Pavia. It has a population of c. 71,000...
to study medicine where he graduated. Here he also met the friar Agostino Gemelli
Agostino Gemelli
Agostino Gemelli was an Italian physician, Franciscan friar and psychologist who was also the founder and chancellor of Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan in 1921....
, who was intrigued by Alberoni's thinking and bright intelligence, and pushed him to pursue studies in the field of social behavior. During his studies in Pavia met Vincenza Pugliese (1929–1992) whom he married in 1958.
From his marriage to Vincenza Pugliese he has three children: Margherita (born in 1959), Francesca (born in 1961) and Paolo Giovanni Agostino (born in 1968) named after friar Agostino Gemelli
Agostino Gemelli
Agostino Gemelli was an Italian physician, Franciscan friar and psychologist who was also the founder and chancellor of Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan in 1921....
. Later he lived with Laura Bonin, from whom had a fourth son: Giulio (named after the famous ancestor). In 1998 married Rosa Giannetta, the former mistress
Mistress (lover)
A mistress is a long-term female lover and companion who is not married to her partner; the term is used especially when her partner is married. The relationship generally is stable and at least semi-permanent; however, the couple does not live together openly. Also the relationship is usually,...
of the Italian architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Roberto Guiducci.
Academic career
His academic career includes the following positions:- Adjunct professor of Psychology at the Catholic University of Milan in 1960
- Adjunct professor of Sociology in 1961, and then full professor of SociologySociologySociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
(again at the University of Milan) in 1964 - Member of the Bi-national Committee Olivetti Foundation-Ford Foundation Social Science Research Council
- Dean of the University of TrentoUniversity of TrentoThe University of Trento is an Italian university located in the cities of Trento and Rovereto. It has been able to achieve considerable results in didactics, research and international relations, as shown by Censis University Guide and by the Italian Ministry of...
(Italy) from 1968 to 1970. - Professor at the University of LausanneUniversity of LausanneThe University of Lausanne in Lausanne, Switzerland was founded in 1537 as a school of theology, before being made a university in 1890. Today about 12,000 students and 2200 researchers study and work at the university...
, the University of CataniaUniversity of CataniaThe University of Catania is a university located in Catania, Italy, and founded in 1434. It is the oldest university in Sicily, the 13th oldest in Italy and the 29th oldest university in the world...
, and then again back at the University of Milan (1978) - Former Teacher of IULM University. He was Dean of the School until 2001
- Board Member of CinecittàCinecittàCinecittà is a large film studio in Rome that is considered the hub of Italian cinema.-History:The studios were founded in 1937 by Benito Mussolini and his head of cinema Luigi Freddi for propaganda purposes, under the slogan "Il cinema è l'arma più forte"...
Cinema Holding of Rome (2002–2005) - Dean of the Experimental Center for CinematographyCinematographyCinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...
(2003-current)
Published works
Alberoni has carried out numerous studies on Sociology of Movements and Individuals, and especially on the nature of LoveLove
Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, "God is love" or Agape in the Canonical gospels...
and relationships among individuals and groups.
The building block of Alberoni though is found in Movement and Institution, which is among the first books on the sociological analysis of movements, their start, development and end. This book has been considered a milestone in the analysis of social movements. The concept developed here is the so-called Statu Nascenti
Nascent state
The nascent state is defined as a psychological process of destructuration-reorganization where the individual becomes capable of merging with other persons and creating a new collectivity with a very high degree of solidarity...
, the "nascent state", the moment in which leadership, ideas, and communication, come together and fuel the birth of movements.
This first work was followed by Consumption and Society, which contributed to fuel the growth of marketing schools in Italy.
In 1979 Alberoni published his best-seller Falling in Love. In the book, which further develops and expands the ideas and theoretical models from Movements and Institutions, he maintains that the experience of falling in love is in essence the nascent state (or "ignition state") of a collective movement made up exclusively of two people. This time, however, Alberoni explores the subject in greater detail, using as much as possible the language of love stories rather than the abstract jargon of psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
or sociology. This book, which was rigorously scientific and at the same time innovative in its linguistic
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
slant, turned into an international best-seller translated into twenty languages. After more than ten editions, it is still in print in Italy.
Alberoni's next works were L'amicizia ("Friendship") of 1984, and Erotismo ("Eroticism") of 1986, in which he compares male and female eroticism. Then followed The Nuptial Flight (Garzanti, Milan, 1992), where he took a closer look at pre-adolescent and adolescent crushes on film stars, and then at the general feminine tendency to seek out superior love objects.
His sociology books includes Genesi (1989), which illustrates his theories about the fundamental experience of the nascent state, the difference between the nascent state and Nirvana
Nirvana
Nirvāṇa ; ) is a central concept in Indian religions. In sramanic thought, it is the state of being free from suffering. In Hindu philosophy, it is the union with the Supreme being through moksha...
, the concept of democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
, and what he terms "Cultural Civilizations".
Collections of brief essays on the subject of collective movements, a number of which were included in The Sources of Dreams (Rizzoli
RCS MediaGroup
RCS MediaGroup S.p.A. , based in Milan and listed on the Italian Stock Exchange, is an international multimedia publishing group that operates in daily newspapers, magazines and books, radio broadcasting, new media and digital and satellite TV...
, Milan, 2000), were later published under the more appropriate title of My Theories and My Life. His essays from Corriere della Sera are usually in collected into book editions by Rizzoli.
Alberoni's books have had a great success both in Italy and abroad, having been translated not only in countries like Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and many others such as Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
.
His books composed of newspaper articles have been pointed out by some critics as lacking scientific analysis, allegedly reducing to platitudinous advice about today's life and love matters.
The most recent books are considered by critics innovative and notable both for originality of the content as well as writing style. Specifically "Mystery of falling in love" in the second part of the treatise offers an original critique to the most important theories of falling in love, especially with reference to the French social school. "Sex and Love" is the first systematic analysis in the field and is a break-through in its approach to the subject.