Magnani Torelli Collection

Eugenio Torelli Viollier was born in Naples and, for a short time, held an honorary post in recognition of his late father, who had been a lawyer. A friend of Alexandre Dumas père, he collaborated with him on L’Indipendente. He later moved to Paris, where he met the publisher Edoardo Sonzogno, who persuaded him to move to Milan and take on the editorship of L’Illustrazione universale. He subsequently worked for a newspaper run by Emilio Treves, and later became editor of La Lombardia. In 1876, he founded Corriere della Sera with the aim of informing the public while acknowledging a range of opinions—an editorial stance that helped the newspaper become Italy’s leading national daily. He died in Milan in 1900. 

This small collection was donated in October 1998 by Edvige Diana, widow of Eugenio Magnani Torelli, great-granddaughter of Eugenio Torelli Viollier, to the Department of Historical Sciences and Historical Documentation. It preserves documents of various kinds produced and received by Torelli, or otherwise relating to him and his role as founder and editor-in-chief of Corriere della Sera, which were passed down through several generations of his descendants.