Metadata : Archive of Ernesto Artom
Collection
- Country:
- Italy
- Holding institution:
- National Library of Italian Judaism “Tullia Zevi”
- Holding institution (official language):
- Biblioteca Nazionale dell’Ebraismo Italiano “Tullia Zevi”
- Postal address:
- Lungotevere R. Sanzio 5, 00153, Rome, IT
- Phone number:
- 0039 0645542294
- Web address:
- www.bnei.it
- Email:
- segreteria@bnei.it
- Country:
- Italy
- Holding institution:
- National Library of Italian Judaism “Tullia Zevi”
- Holding institution (official language):
- Biblioteca Nazionale dell’Ebraismo Italiano “Tullia Zevi”
- Postal address:
- Lungotevere R. Sanzio 5, 00153, Rome, IT
- Phone number:
- 0039 0645542294
- Web address:
- www.bnei.it
- Email:
- segreteria@bnei.it
- Reference number:
- IT-UCEI-ST0010-000001
- Title:
- Archive of Ernesto Artom
- Title (official language):
- Archivio di Ernesto Artom
- Creator/accumulator:
- Ernesto Artom
- Date(s):
- 1894/1934
- Language:
- Italian
- Extent:
- 0.80 linear metres (6 folders, 113 files)
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
Ernesto Artom’s archive consists of 6 folders and 113 files. The documentation is organised into 6 series, the first of which is further divided into sub-series and constitutes the most substantial part of the collection. The materials – comprising manuscripts, typewritten documents, printed matter, and newspaper clippings – include various types: notes, drafts of essays/articles, reports, excerpts from speeches, parliamentary questions and correspondence.
This content reflects Artom’s activity both as a scholar and publicist, specialising in Risorgimento issues and international relations, and in the institutional roles he held throughout his life.
Within this context, the documents relating to Artom’s time at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs appear quite limited (see the MAE sub-series and files 13–14 of the "Correspondents" series, with no reference to his experience in The Hague). By contrast, there is a wealth of material related to Artom’s parliamentary activity: first as a liberal deputy, deeply connected to the Garfagnana region (see the files of the Garfagnana sub-series on the Lucca–Aulla railway and the history of Garfagnana), where he was active in foreign and colonial policy debates (cf. Parliamentary Activity, files 17–20); and later as a senator, particularly in his work on committees dealing with foreign policy, finance, and trade treaties (his experience with commercial treaties is also evident in the numerous files related to foreign trade and free trade).
There is a significant presence of notes, memoranda, statements and speeches on colonial policy, a field Artom was very familiar with, particularly as President of the Italian Colonial Institute, a position he held from 1910 (information drawn from the online biographical entry by the Historical Archives of the Senate of the Republic. The file dedicated to the Italian Colonial Institute in Series 1, Colonial Policy sub-series, file 38, is dated 1918-1925).
Also noteworthy are several articles on World War I and on the Italo-Romanian League, of which Artom was president.
In connection with Artom’s strong interest in diplomacy and international relations, the files belonging to the Neutrality series (files 1–2) and the Genoa Conference series deserve special mention.
- Archival history:
- It has not been possible to determine any precise information regarding the deposit of Ernesto Artom’s papers. It is presumed to have taken place between 1995, the year in which the archive of Ernesto’s uncle Isacco Artom was deposited, and 2004, when the entire Artom family archive was deposited at the National Library “Tullia Zevi”.
- Administrative/biographical history:
-
Ernesto Artom, son of Israel Artom and Enrichetta Ottolenghi, was born in Asti in 1868. In 1891, at the age of twenty-three, he obtained a law degree from the University of Rome. A few years later, he embarked on a diplomatic career, being appointed honorary attaché to the Legation, first at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (19 January 1897), and subsequently at the Legation in The Hague (23 April 1899). Also in The Hague, in the same year, he took part in the International Peace Conference as assistant secretary to the Italian delegation led by Emilio Visconti Venosta and Costantino Nigra.
From 5 February 1901 he was assigned to the diplomatic office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from which he retired in 1904. In that same year, he was elected as a liberal deputy in the Constitutional Right group for the constituency of Castelnuovo di Garfagnana, a position he held for three legislative terms (XXII, XXIII, XXIV) until 1919, participating in numerous debates on foreign and colonial policy.
On 6 October 1919, Artom – who in the meantime had assumed the presidency of the Italian Colonial Institute (since 1910) – was appointed senator. In this role, he was very active as secretary and member of various committees: he served as Secretary of the Foreign Policy Committee (19 July 1920 – 7 April 1921; 16 June 1921 – 10 December 1923), member of the Finance Committee (7 April 1927 – 21 January 1929), Secretary of the Finance Committee (2 May 1929 – 19 January 1934), and member of the Committee for the Examination of Customs Tariffs and Trade Treaties (8 March 1930 – 19 January 1934).
Alongside his institutional roles, Artom is remembered for his diplomatic efforts in 1915 aimed at preventing Italy’s entry into the war. In contact with members of Austrian and German press circles, as well as with Prince von Bülow – head of the diplomatic mission seeking to secure Italy’s neutrality in exchange for territorial concessions on the irredentist lands – he acted as mediator with Foreign Minister Sidney Sonnino in an attempt to find a possible agreement (see series Neutralità, fascc. 1–2).
Ernesto’s initiatives fall within the framework of a Sardinian diplomatic tradition that sought to resolve the issue of Italian territories under Habsburg rule by leveraging Austria’s “eastern orientation”. These efforts are well documented in a book edited by his son, which compares his diplomatic work with that of his great-uncle Isacco, who was also a diplomat, personal secretary to Cavour, and a fervent supporter of Italian neutrality during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870.
Ernesto Artom was also a publicist and editorialist; he wrote several essays (many published in Nuova Antologia) dedicated to the Risorgimento, 19th-century politics and international relations, as well as articles published in newspapers concerning the First World War. Among his works is also a biography of his uncle Isacco, although it is limited to the year 1871. He died in Rome on 7 November 1935.
- Access points: persons/families:
- Artom, Angelo
- Artom, Isacco
- Lovatelli, Calista
- Subject terms:
- Jewish political activity
- Legal matters
- Trade and commerce
- World War I
- Links to finding aids:
- https://www.bnei.it/risorse/archivio-ernesto-artom/
- Yerusha Network member:
- National Library of Italian Judaism - Tullia Zevi
- Author of the description:
- Keren Perugia, National Library of Italian Judaism “Tullia Zevi”, 2026
- Reference number:
- IT-UCEI-ST0010-000001
- Title:
- Archive of Ernesto Artom
- Title (official language):
- Archivio di Ernesto Artom
- Creator/accumulator:
- Ernesto Artom
- Date(s):
- 1894/1934
- Language:
- Italian
- Extent:
- 0.80 linear metres (6 folders, 113 files)
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
Ernesto Artom’s archive consists of 6 folders and 113 files. The documentation is organised into 6 series, the first of which is further divided into sub-series and constitutes the most substantial part of the collection. The materials – comprising manuscripts, typewritten documents, printed matter, and newspaper clippings – include various types: notes, drafts of essays/articles, reports, excerpts from speeches, parliamentary questions and correspondence.
This content reflects Artom’s activity both as a scholar and publicist, specialising in Risorgimento issues and international relations, and in the institutional roles he held throughout his life.
Within this context, the documents relating to Artom’s time at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs appear quite limited (see the MAE sub-series and files 13–14 of the "Correspondents" series, with no reference to his experience in The Hague). By contrast, there is a wealth of material related to Artom’s parliamentary activity: first as a liberal deputy, deeply connected to the Garfagnana region (see the files of the Garfagnana sub-series on the Lucca–Aulla railway and the history of Garfagnana), where he was active in foreign and colonial policy debates (cf. Parliamentary Activity, files 17–20); and later as a senator, particularly in his work on committees dealing with foreign policy, finance, and trade treaties (his experience with commercial treaties is also evident in the numerous files related to foreign trade and free trade).
There is a significant presence of notes, memoranda, statements and speeches on colonial policy, a field Artom was very familiar with, particularly as President of the Italian Colonial Institute, a position he held from 1910 (information drawn from the online biographical entry by the Historical Archives of the Senate of the Republic. The file dedicated to the Italian Colonial Institute in Series 1, Colonial Policy sub-series, file 38, is dated 1918-1925).
Also noteworthy are several articles on World War I and on the Italo-Romanian League, of which Artom was president.
In connection with Artom’s strong interest in diplomacy and international relations, the files belonging to the Neutrality series (files 1–2) and the Genoa Conference series deserve special mention.
- Archival history:
- It has not been possible to determine any precise information regarding the deposit of Ernesto Artom’s papers. It is presumed to have taken place between 1995, the year in which the archive of Ernesto’s uncle Isacco Artom was deposited, and 2004, when the entire Artom family archive was deposited at the National Library “Tullia Zevi”.
- Administrative/biographical history:
-
Ernesto Artom, son of Israel Artom and Enrichetta Ottolenghi, was born in Asti in 1868. In 1891, at the age of twenty-three, he obtained a law degree from the University of Rome. A few years later, he embarked on a diplomatic career, being appointed honorary attaché to the Legation, first at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (19 January 1897), and subsequently at the Legation in The Hague (23 April 1899). Also in The Hague, in the same year, he took part in the International Peace Conference as assistant secretary to the Italian delegation led by Emilio Visconti Venosta and Costantino Nigra.
From 5 February 1901 he was assigned to the diplomatic office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from which he retired in 1904. In that same year, he was elected as a liberal deputy in the Constitutional Right group for the constituency of Castelnuovo di Garfagnana, a position he held for three legislative terms (XXII, XXIII, XXIV) until 1919, participating in numerous debates on foreign and colonial policy.
On 6 October 1919, Artom – who in the meantime had assumed the presidency of the Italian Colonial Institute (since 1910) – was appointed senator. In this role, he was very active as secretary and member of various committees: he served as Secretary of the Foreign Policy Committee (19 July 1920 – 7 April 1921; 16 June 1921 – 10 December 1923), member of the Finance Committee (7 April 1927 – 21 January 1929), Secretary of the Finance Committee (2 May 1929 – 19 January 1934), and member of the Committee for the Examination of Customs Tariffs and Trade Treaties (8 March 1930 – 19 January 1934).
Alongside his institutional roles, Artom is remembered for his diplomatic efforts in 1915 aimed at preventing Italy’s entry into the war. In contact with members of Austrian and German press circles, as well as with Prince von Bülow – head of the diplomatic mission seeking to secure Italy’s neutrality in exchange for territorial concessions on the irredentist lands – he acted as mediator with Foreign Minister Sidney Sonnino in an attempt to find a possible agreement (see series Neutralità, fascc. 1–2).
Ernesto’s initiatives fall within the framework of a Sardinian diplomatic tradition that sought to resolve the issue of Italian territories under Habsburg rule by leveraging Austria’s “eastern orientation”. These efforts are well documented in a book edited by his son, which compares his diplomatic work with that of his great-uncle Isacco, who was also a diplomat, personal secretary to Cavour, and a fervent supporter of Italian neutrality during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870.
Ernesto Artom was also a publicist and editorialist; he wrote several essays (many published in Nuova Antologia) dedicated to the Risorgimento, 19th-century politics and international relations, as well as articles published in newspapers concerning the First World War. Among his works is also a biography of his uncle Isacco, although it is limited to the year 1871. He died in Rome on 7 November 1935.
- Access points: persons/families:
- Artom, Angelo
- Artom, Isacco
- Lovatelli, Calista
- Subject terms:
- Jewish political activity
- Legal matters
- Trade and commerce
- World War I
- Links to finding aids:
- https://www.bnei.it/risorse/archivio-ernesto-artom/
- Yerusha Network member:
- National Library of Italian Judaism - Tullia Zevi
- Author of the description:
- Keren Perugia, National Library of Italian Judaism “Tullia Zevi”, 2026
