Santi Romano

Santi Romano
Santi Romano in c. 1930.
Born(1875-01-31)31 January 1875
Palermo, Italy
Died3 November 1947(1947-11-03) (aged 72)
Rome, Italy
OccupationProfessor
Years active1898–1944
Board member of
Academic background
EducationUniversity of Palermo
Academic work
DisciplinePublic law, Jurisprudence
InstitutionsUniversities of Camerino, Modena, Pisa, Milano, Roma
Notable ideas

Santi Romano (31 January 1875 – 3 November 1947) was an Italian public lawyer. He taught administrative law, constitutional law, ecclesiastical law and international law at several Italian universities, served as President of the Council of State from 1928 to 1944, became a senator of the Kingdom in 1934, and was a member of the Lincean Academy until his dismissal in 1946.

A leading advocate of legal pluralism, he is best known for his contributions to administrative legal scholarship and for his influential book The Legal Order (1918). Together with his mentor Vittorio Emanuele Orlando, Romano is widely regarded as a foremost exponent of the Italian school of public law of his time.

The evolving nature of Romano's relationship with Fascism is debated among scholars. He joined the National Fascist Party in 1928, and his role within the party and government has been interpreted both as active support for Fascism and, conversely, as an attempt to moderate its more extreme tendencies.