born April 1, 1958, Palermo, Sicily, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
died Nov. 8, 1941, Rome, Italy
Italian political theorist.
Educated at the University of Palermo, he taught constitutional law there (1885–88) and at the Universities of Rome (1888–96) and Turin (1896–1908). A member of the Italian chamber of deputies from 1908, he was made senator for life by Victor Emmanuel III in 1919. In works such as The Ruling Class (1896) he argued that, historically and properly, society has been governed by minorities, whether military, religious, oligarchic, or aristocratic.