About Edoardo Sonzogno
Lived 1836 – 1920 (aged 83). Edoardo Sonzogno was an Italian publisher.
Edoardo Sonzogno (; 21 April 1836 – 14 March 1920) was an Italian publisher.
A native of Milan, Sonzogno was the son of a businessman who owned a publisher, , and a bookstore. Sonzogno owned and directed the newspaper Il Secolo from 1861 until 1909. For much of that time, its editor was Ernesto Teodoro Moneta.
After inheriting his father's business, in 1874, Sonzogno opened a musical establishment, , for which he appointed Amintore Galli as its artistic director. Galli sought to establish an editorial line distinct from those of Casa Ricordi and , Sonzogno's closest competitors, by publishing monthly series of, in Galli's words, "a collection of economically priced masterworks by the great maestri". The opera was taken over by Giulio Ricordi, the competitor of Sonzogno.
The second competition was advertised in July 1888, to be judged by a panel including Galli and Antonio Ghislanzoni. Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana won first prize against seventy-two other operas, including Niccola Spinelli's Labilia and 's Rudello.
In 1894 he established a theater, the Lirico Internazionale, in Milan. He was also one of the first publishers in Italy to launch pocket-book editions of a huge range of classical authors from all over the world, a collection he called Biblioteca Universale. The price of these minibooks (11.5 × 17.5 cm) was so low, from 1 to 3.5 lire, that anybody could easily afford a personal library of classics, fiction and non-fiction.
Sonzogno died in Milan in 1920.
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Important facts
People in Edoardo Sonzogno's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Edoardo Sonzogno's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Edoardo Sonzogno?
Italian publisher (1836–1920)
When was Edoardo Sonzogno born?
Edoardo Sonzogno was born on 21 April 1836 in Milan.
When did Edoardo Sonzogno die?
Edoardo Sonzogno died on 14 March 1920 in Milan.
What was Edoardo Sonzogno's occupation?
Edoardo Sonzogno was a publisher.
What nationality was Edoardo Sonzogno?
Edoardo Sonzogno was Italian.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Edoardo Sonzogno. https://biography.guide/edoardo-sonzogno/
MLA: "Edoardo Sonzogno." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/edoardo-sonzogno/.
Chicago: "Edoardo Sonzogno." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/edoardo-sonzogno/.
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