Италия в представлениях славистов XIX века

In the first half of the nineteenth century, in the newborn Slavic studies, a plenty of issues were on the table, raising a large number of basic questions. Italy, in its connections with the Slavic world, did not seem to represent a major topic of research. Nevertheless, the first generation of Slavist scholars soon realised the potential significance of Italy in the discipline, and the second and third generation already devoted more attention to the relationships between Slavic and Italian history and culture. This article examines the main reasons behind this commitment and some paradigmatic episodes in the nineteenth century history of Slavistics connected to Italy.