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. This reversal of attitude compromises the international success of Italian mathematics and its capability to keep up with the big transformations which are changing the face of mathematics: topology, abstract algebra and abstract functional analysis, just to recall some of the fields where these changes are more radical.