Piero Sraffa and Raffaello Piccoli: Two Italian Scholars in Cambridge 1929–1932

Abstract

Sraffa’s diaries report that from June 1929 until late 1932 he often met with the literary scholar, poet and philosopher Raffaello Piccoli, Professor of Italian in the University of Cambridge. After a brief biographical sketch of Piccoli, the paper reconstructs the story of their friendship, thus contributing to the reconstruction of Sraffa’s biography in 1929–1932. It also considers their meetings with Carlo Rosselli in 1929–1931, together with their common friendship with Ludwig Wittgenstein.