From internationalization to autarky: Mathematics in Rome between the two world wars
The history of mathematics in Rome between the two world wars is characterized by a complete reversal of the enlightened international vision promoted by Guido Castelnuovo, Vito Volterra, Tullio Levi-Civita and Federigo Enriques, in favor of a short-sighted autarkic one, mainly personified by Francesco Severi. It is a story full of contradictions, in which internal trends to the community of Italian mathematicians intertwine inextricably with powerful social and political changes.