“Carlo Ginori and the Modernization of Tuscan economy”

Carlo Ginori (1702-1757) was one of the key figures of the Tuscan Enlightenment. A principal leader of the “Florentine faction” in the decade after the advent of the Lorraine dynasty, he was made governor of Livorno in 1747 as a way to marginalize him from high politics. Nevertheless, he made good use of what he called his “miserable governorship” over the free port. He developed into a crucial figure for mediating the transmission of French and English economic and political thought into Tuscany: one of the earliest programs of translation and adaptation in Italy. He also nourished a host of projects orientated toward developing the grand duchy’s economy, including the foundation of the famous Ginori Porcelain Company (which still exists today). His ensemble of economic projects sit uneasily on the line between mercantilism and physiocracy, between industrial development and traditional agrarian economies. They reveal the intellectual possibilities of the age of reception, adaptation and experimentation that preceded the Leopoldine reforms