Massimo Bray

Massimo Bray (born 11 April 1959) is an Italian publisher, politician, and historian. He served as the minister of cultural heritage and tourism in the Letta government from 28 April 2013 to 22 February 2014. He is currently the general manager of the Treccani Institute.

Biography Born in Lecce in 1959, Bray attended the classical high school. He then studied in Florence, earning a degree in literature and philosophy in 1984. After he obtained a DEA in history in Paris (EHHSS).

In 1991 Bray joined the Institute of the Italian Encyclopaedia, also known as the Treccani, founded by Giovanni Treccani, as editor in charge of the modern history section and in 1994 he became editorial director. He has been its general manager since 2015.

Bray was on the editorial board of the Italian Institute of Human Sciences until 1994 He was president of the Notte della Taranta foundation, which organizes an important popular music festival.

Bray is the author of a blog in the Italian edition of the Huffington Post.

As president of the Foundation for Books, Music and Culture , Bray was in charge of the 2017 and 2018 editions of the Salone Internazionale del Libro in Turin.

Since 2019, Bray has been teaching history of publishing at the Suor Orsola Benincasa University of Naples.

In 2019, Bray published a book entitled Alla voce Cultura. Suspended diary of my experience as minister.

During the 18th edition of the Benedetto Croce Prize, held in Pescasseroli (L’Aquila) in 2023, Bray was awarded the Special PNAL Award .

Political career

Election to Parliament Bray was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in the general election, which was held on 24 and 25 February 2013, with the Democratic Party. Bray's term ended in February 2014 when he was succeeded in the Renzi Government by Dario Franceschini.

On 18 March 2015, Bray resigned from the Chamber of Deputies citing his intention to dedicate time to his work at the Treccani Institute. He was replaced by Deputy Ludovico Vico. On 25 November 2021, he announced his resignation from the post for personal reasons.

Books Alla voce Cultura. Diario sospeso della mia esperienza di Ministro, Lecce, Manni Editori 2019 .