Emilio Treves

Emilio Salomone Trèves (1834–1916) was an Italian writer and publisher, founder of the Fratelli Treves publishing house.

Biography

Early years

Emilio Salomone Trèves was born on the 31 December, 1834, to Lia Montalcini and Sabato Graziadio Trèves, the Chief Rabbi of Trieste. Lia Montalcini had three daughters from the first marriage: Annetta, Esterina and Rosa. With Sabato, she had three sons: Enrico Michele, Emilio Salomone and the youngest, Giuseppe Emanuele. Trèves attended the Jewish elementary school and the Royal Imperial Gymnasium of Trieste, but there is no record of him pursuing a regular university education (the title ‘Dr’ E. Treves appears only rarely in later documents).

Trèves emerged as a writer at a very young age, he debuted with a drama entitled Ricchezza e miseria (Wealth and Misery), written between 1848 and 1851. His second literary work, the five-act historical drama Il duca di Enghien (The Duke of Enghien), was published in 1853. The play was banned by the Austrian censors because it clearly expressed opposition to Austrian rule and called for the restoration of Trieste’s Italian identity. Trèves was actively involved in the anti-Habsburg unrest in Trieste at that time. When in 1853 his elder brother Enrico Michele was arrested and sentenced to 4 years in prison for keeping anti-Austrian publications, Trèves left Trieste and moved to Paris.

The publishing house was founded on 1 January 1861. Between 1861 and 1864, Trèves opened his first small publishing studio located at 29 Via Durini, the company was called ‘Editori della Biblioteca Utile’. There he launched his first magazine, Museo di Famiglia, followed by Annuario Scientifico. After a few years, Trèves decided to expand and seized the opportunity that presented itself: in May 1868, the Hungarian refugee printer Helphy intended to return to his homeland, and Treves bought his typography at 11 Via Solferino, on favourable terms. He immediately launched several new magazines, expanded the publication of literary works and increased print runs.

In 1870, Trèves brought his younger brother Giuseppe Emanuele into the business, entrusting him with the organisation and financial management of the company. In 1872, when the collaboration between the two brothers became permanent, the publishing house took on its definitive name of ‘Fratelli Treves’. The corporate restructuring enabled Emilio to bring his project for a large-format illustrated newspaper to fruition, modelled on the newspapers published in European capitals.

Personal life

In the late 1850s in Milan, he met Suzette Thompson, a young Englishwoman who had come to Italy to study music. He married Suzette in London on June 1, 1863. Their only daughter, Maria, was born in 1864.

Trèves died in Milan on 30 January, 1916. His death was symbolic of the end of an era: that of pioneering and romantic Italian publishing, which was to be replaced by the industrial logic of the 20th century. The mark left by Trèves on Italian publishing remains indelible, as he helped lay the foundations upon which Italian culture would develop in the following century.