“The Istituto Nazionale delle Assicurazioni was not only the driving force behind the Italian insurance industry, it was [...] also the force behind insurance research in Italy.” These words were written by Lorenzo Pallesi, former chairman of INA SpA, in his work L'assicurazione: una forma di previdenza (“Insurance: A Form of Welfare”). Elsewhere, Pallesi wrote: “its dedication to promoting and encouraging such studies was already evident toward the late Twenties [...], by its promotion of courses in insurance culture in 1928, led by the renowned mathematician Guido Castelnuovo. The courses consisted of lecture cycles held at the INA’s library and taught by eminent teachers and experts in subjects related to insurance, and they were very popular.”

These initial lectures gave rise to a cultural tradition that would evolve over time, lasting uninterrupted until 1942 and finding a tangible outlet in the publication of 14 prestigious scientific volumes: the Atti dell’Istituto Nazionale delle Assicurazioni (“Records of the National Insurance Institute”) – a 15th volume was due to be published in 1943 by the Resto del Carlino printing press, which was unfortunately ransacked by the Germans before the volume could be published. Originally published as the documents from the first insurance lectures introduced by then-Chairman Salvatore Gatti in 1928, the Atti would continue to be tied to the insurance culture lectures until these were suspended in 1934 – and they even included essays by illustrious researchers. Editions 8-14 evolved into collections of scientific texts focused on insurance studies and the insurance industry in its many forms and the ways in which it intersected with the economy and healthcare. Owing to the influence of the fascist politics of the time, new areas of interest emerged and were incorporated over time: the value of the colonies, issues surrounding raw materials, and self-sufficiency.

The names behind the lectures and the essays carry significant weight, and come from politics, various disciplines of academia and major players in the insurance industry. Luigi Amoroso (Le Assicurazioni d'Italia), Pietro Badoglio, Giuseppe Bottai, Francesco Paolo Cantelli (Istituto Nazionale delle Assicurazioni), Bruno de Mori (Unione Italiana di Riassicurazione), Raffaele D'Addario (Le Assicurazioni d'Italia), Antigono Donati (Istituto Nazionale delle Assicurazioni), Arnoldo Frigessi di Rattalma (Riunione Adriatica di Sicurtà), Filadelfo Insolera, Sergio Panunzio, Pietro Smolensky (Assicurazioni Generali), Leone Spitzer (Riunione Adriatica di Sicurtà), and Cesare Vivante, to name but a few.

The database is a mixed collection of library materials and archival documentation: all 14 volumes of the former series have been digitally reproduced with the 1929-1938 index booklet, the latter is a folder that provides insight into the relationship between the editorial staff of the Atti, at the INA library, and the various collaborators: individual files with memos, reports and correspondence, drafts and the occasional small press release that allow us to recount from within the editorial work of a scientific publication of the highest level.