Antonio Genovesi (1713–69) is the best-known writer on the civil economy. And for good reason: he linked his principal work, Lezioni di economia civile (Lessons of Civil Economy, 1765–70) to the expression “civil economy”. In Italy and other Latin countries, and in Germany as well, he represented a universal point of reference for the school of civil economy. He was also noted for his creativity, and for having been appointed in 1754 to the Chair of Commerce and Mechanics (i.e. civil economy), instituted by the Tuscan reformer Bartolomeo Intieri, at the University of Naples. We will not associate him with a particular pillar of the civil economy as we will with other authors in the following chapters, because he was “everyone’s teacher”.

It was in this same reformist context that Ferdinando Galiani (1728–87) published Della Moneta (On Money) in 1751, one of the most original and important works in eighteenth-century Europe, and which helped to raise Genovesi’s profile as an economist. In fact, Genovesi was entrusted with the first chair of economics in Europe for which we have any trace; Intieri desired and financed the chair on condition that Genovesi be appointed to it and that the lessons be in Italian, which was itself a specific educational and reformist choice. A chair actually entitled Chair of Civil Economy was also instituted in Modena in 1772. Francesco III d’Este, Duke of Modena, appointed Agostino Paradisi to it; he was a more multi-faceted figure than simply an economist. The manuscript of his Lezioni (Lessons), which is clearly derived from Genovesi, is preserved in the Library of Modena and Reggio Emilia; their value awaits rediscovery. Sometimes unintended consequences bring good results, as illustrated with Genovesi’s expulsion from the field of theology: he devoted the last fifteen years of his life almost exclusively to economics, ethics and anthropology, and his teachings became recognized throughout Enlightenment Europe.