Leonardo da Vinci, The Greatest Italian EverGiuseppe Verdi, runner-upGalileo Galilei, semifinalistLaura Pausini, 6th placeLuigi Pirandello, 8th placeEnrico Fermi, 9th placeDante Alighieri, 10th place
Il più grande italiano di tutti i tempi ("The greatest Italian of all times") was an Italian television show based on the British 100 Greatest Britons transmitted on
Rai 2 in January and February 2010.
It was presented by
Francesco Facchinetti and
Martina Stella, in four sessions. The winner was
Leonardo da Vinci.
The show was widely criticized and ignored by some historians in that it focussed mainly on personalities of recent history and today's Italian world. Some key figures of Italian history were largely ignored, including every figure from
Ancient Rome,
Popes and other
Roman Catholicclergy who had a decisive role in shaping the history of Italy. Also, the show had a very low share rate, 6%, due to the "unacceptable choice of representatives of the Italian culture such as Laura Pausini, definitely less important than genii such as Michelangelo and Donatello.