David Kertzer

David I. Kertzer has been the Dupee University Professor of Social Science since coming to Brown in 1992. He is also professor of anthropology and Italian studies.

Among his books are Comrades and Christians: Religion and Political Struggle in Communist Italy (Cambridge University Press, 1980); Ritual, Politics, and Power (Yale University Press, 1988); Sacrificed for Honor: Italian Infant Abandonment and the Politics of Reproductive Control (Beacon Press, 1993); Politics and Symbols: The Italian Communist Party and the Fall of Communism (Yale University Press, 1996); The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara (Knopf, 1997) (finalist for the National Book Award for Nonfiction, published in 12 languages); The Popes Against the Jews: The Vatican's Role in the Rise of Modern Anti-Semitism (Knopf, 2001) (published in 9 languages); Prisoner of the Vatican (Houghton Mifflin, 2004); Amalia's Tale (Houghton Mifflin, 2008); and The Pope and Mussolini: The Secret History of Pius XI and the Rise of Fascism in Europe (Random House, 2014) (published in 11 languages) In 2015, Kertzer was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Biography for The Pope and Mussolini.

In 2005 Kertzer was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is past president of the Social Science History Association and of the Society for the Anthropology of Europe, and served as provost of Brown University from 2006 to 2011.

Research

Current Projects

Publications

The Pope and Mussolini: The Secret History of Pius XI and the Rise of Fascism in Europe. New York: Random House, 2014. Italian edition Rizzoli; UK edition Oxford University Press; Romanian edition Editura Rao

Edgardo Mortara,” Enzyklopaedie juedischer Geschichte und Kultur, ed. By Dan Diner. Stuttgart: Metzler, 2014

“Pietro Tacchi Venturi, S.J., Mussolini, Pius XI, and the Jews.” Pp. 265-73 in The Tragic Couple: Encounters between Jews and Jesuits, ed. by Robert Maryks and James Bernauer. Leiden: Brill, 2014.

“Da Garibaldi a Berlusconi attraverso Mussolini.” In Questo diletto almo paese: profili dell’unità d’Italia, ed. by Ernesto Galli della Loggia. Bologna: Il Mulino, 2013.

"The United States, the Holy See, and Italy's racial laws," (with Alessandro Visani). Pp. 327-41 in Charles Gallagher, David Kertzer, and Alberto Melloni, eds., Pius XI and America. Berlin: Lit Verlag, 2012.

"Italy's Path to Very Low Fertility: The Adequacy of Economic and Second Demographic Transition Theories," (with Michael White, Laura Bernardi, and Giuseppe Gabrielli). European Journal of Population 25(1): 89-115, 2009.

"Social Anthropology and Social Science History." Social Science History 33:1:1-16 (2009).

"An imperfect contraceptive society: Fertility and contraception in Italy." (with Alessandra Gribaldo, and Maya Judd). Population and Development Review, 35(3): 551-584 (2009).

Amalia's Tale: A Peasant's Fight for Justice in 19th Century Italy. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2008. Italian edition Rizzoli (La Sfida di Amalia, 2010); Brazilian edition by Rocco (A Historia de Amalia, 2010).

“Population composition as an object of political struggle,” with Dominique Arel. Pp. 664-677 in Robert Goodin and Charles Tilly, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Contextual Political Analysis. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.

Teaching

Anthropology 1910G: Senior Seminar: Politics and Symbols

It is impossible to understand politics without understanding the key role played by symbols, myth, and ritual. This seminar provides the theoretical background – drawing heavily on anthropology, but also on a variety of other fields – to examine how political actors manipulate symbols and devise and utilize myths and rituals to win support. Through such symbolic activities, political reality is created and political groups formed, whether aimed at defending the status quo or overthrowing it. We look at examples throughout the world and throughout history. Special attention is given to the 2014 political races in the U.S.

Italian Studies 1390 Modern Italy

An introduction to Italian society, culture, and politics, focusing on developments over the past two centuries. We pay particular attention to how a modern Italian national identity was created; the role played by the Catholic Church; changing gender and class relations; family life; conflicts between the North and the South; the development of fascism; and postwar political developments, including the influence of the Communist Party, and the rapid political changes of the past decade.

News|Recent News

Book Review: ‘The Pope at War’ by David I. Kertzer

August 19, 2022 HistoryNet

HistoryNet article discusses David Kertzer's book "The Pope at War" and the newly released Vatican archives that cast Pius XII's wartime leadership in a damning light.

Hitler and The Pope (interview with David Kertzer)

August 12, 2022 Utterly Moderate Podcast

On this episode of Utterly Moderate podcast, Professor of Italian Studies David Kertzer discusses his newest book "The Pope at War."

The pope who thought he could negotiate with Hitler (David Kertzer book review)

July 29, 2022 The Washington Post

The Washinton Post reviews "The Pope at War", an assessment of the moral failings of Pope Pius XII during World War II, written by Professor of Italian Studies David Kertzer.

The Pope at War: The Secret History of Pius XII, Mussolini, and Hitler - New book by David Kertzer

June 13, 2022

Additional news coverage for David Kertzer's new book, The Pope at War: The Secret History of Pius XII, Mussolini, and Hitler

Vatican documents show secret back channel between Pope Pius XII and Adolph Hitler (interview with David Kertzer)

June 7, 2022 PBS News Hour

"Pius XII was afraid of, certainly in the first years of the war, that the Nazis were going to win. And so he felt he had to plan for a Europe that was going to be under Nazi control with their pal Mussolini helping out," David Kertzer in an interview with PBS News Hour on the findings in his new book.

Pope Pius XII was not ‘neutral’ on Holocaust, fumes Pulitzer-winning historian (comments by David Kertzer)

June 3, 2022 The Times of Israel

Aghast at continued apologia for Pope Pius XII, Watson faculty fellow and historian David Kertzer reveals archival finds about the Vatican's stance on Jewish genocide, in The Times of Israel.

The Pope's Secret Channel Back to Hitler (written by David Kertzer)

May 31, 2022 The Atlantic

David Kertzer writes for The Atlantic, "Newly revealed Vatican documents uncover a long-held secret: As war broke out, Pius XII used a Nazi prince to negotiate with Adolf Hitler."

People

Biography