Lecture
Daniel Snowman
Tuesday 10.02.2026
Daniel Snowman
‘Viva Verdi!’: Cultural Nationalism in 19th-Century Italy and Across Europe
Tuesday 10.02.2026
How to watch
This lecture starts on 10 February at 7:00pm (UK).
Summary
In addition to references to Verdi’s chorus of Hebrew Slaves (from Nabucco), much of this lecture is devoted to the 19th-century development of Italian cultural nationalism, unification, and Verdi as a member of the first all-Italian parliament. We also examine close parallels with the emerging “cultural nationalism” among Germans, Irish, Hungarians, Czechs, Finns, and, of course, Herzl and Zionism!
Daniel Snowman
Daniel Snowman is a social and cultural historian. Born in London to a Jewish family in 1938 and educated at Cambridge and Cornell, Daniel became a lecturer at the University of Sussex and went on to work for many years at the BBC as senior producer of radio features and documentaries. A senior research fellow at the Institute of Historical Research (University of London), his many books include a social history of opera and a study of the cultural impact of the “Hitler Emigrés” and, most recently, his memoir Just Passing Through: Interactions with the World 1938-2021.