storia dell'assicurazione Fondazione Mansutti

Academy

In addition to valuing its valuable historical and artistic content, one of the main objectives of the Museum is to promote insurance knowledge. Its Academy connects with universities, schools, and institutions interested in educational initiatives, making its heritage available for research, creating multimedia, emotional, and experiential pathways, proposing educational programs, and offering stimulating and innovative visit experiences.

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COURSE 1
HAIL PROTECTOR'S HISTORY

In the first half of the 19th century, scientists and others engaged in a clumsy and heated debate, which they believed was rooted in scientific experimentation, on how to prevent the much-feared hail from causing serious damage to agriculture. If the lightning rod, invented and successfully applied by Benjamin Franklin in 1752, was so effective, why shouldn’t there be a method to "prevent hail" using a similar mechanism? As a result, amusing theories emerged suggesting that certain types of straw ropes could prevent the formation of frozen hailstones, depending on their characteristics and placement on special wooden poles. Naturally, insurance companies followed the discussion with keen interest.

Discover this intriguing story, filled with books, images, and posters.

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COURSE 2
WAR INSURANCE

Insurance has always adapted to the protection needs of people throughout different historical periods. War times, of course, are no exception, generating significant anxiety and concern. It’s fascinating to trace the stages of this journey, which include wartime events such as the French conflicts of the nineteenth century, which called many young people to arms for extended periods, as well as those of the Second World War. You’ll see, for example, how insurers devised coverage to mitigate or replace the call to war, and how they ultimately had to yield to the Nazi regime regarding compensation for the Jews.

Discover this journey through policies, posters, books, insights, and video stories.

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COURSE 3
MERCHANT'S HISTORY

The merchant is the new man of the Middle Ages. From 1300 onward, the economy throughout Europe begins to shift away from agriculture: mercantile activity emerges and develops rapidly.

The medieval merchant not only knows how to read and write; he is a cultured individual. He understands and speaks at least three languages essential for his trade, travels extensively, and adapts to being away from home for long periods. He has studied mathematics and knows how to apply the double-entry bookkeeping system to his accounts. Often, in addition to his trade, he engages in monetary or credit activities and may run a bank. He is a God-fearing man, able to balance a deep trust in Him with a calculated approach to the risks he is unwilling to take recklessly. Thus, he invents insurance because he is willing to earn less in order to live peacefully.

Discover this story through policies, books, insights, and video stories.

COURSE 4
FIRES IN HISTORY AND INSURERS' CREATIVITY

You don't have to go back to 64 AD to realize that after the fire of Rome there were many great fires that destroyed entire cities, both before and after the Great Fire of London in 1666. The causes of these frequent calamities are many. First of all, the extensive use of wood and other easily combustible materials, including tar, in the construction of buildings; then the widespread incautious use of fire for work or, more simply, for cooking or for heating; and finally, the fact that, over time, the center of cities was built with houses leaning against each other, favoring the spread of flames and thus hindering their extinguishing. It is natural to ask: why had insurers, who since the Middle Ages had shown themselves ready to take on the risks of the sea, not shown the same courage in insuring the risks of fire and waited four centuries to do so? The cause is probably to be found in the impossibility of having statistics on the matter - essential for the insurer's profession - but above all in the catastrophic nature that a fire could assume which alone could have affected a large number of insured buildings, if not all of them.

Discover this narrative, between license plates, policies, books, suggestions and stories in video.

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PERSONAL SENSE OF RISK

Insurance posters, along with the art they often contain, unexpectedly allow us to delve into the fascinating and complex theme of risk. The journey will encompass individual and cultural perceptions and evaluations of risk, various approaches and perspectives of study, risk communication, research findings with the University La Sapienza of Rome, and the persuasive mechanisms and motivational levers that emerge from the insurance posters displayed in the Museum.

RISK: PERCEPTION, MANAGEMENT, PSYCHO-SOCIAL AND MOTIVATIONAL LEVERS OF COMMUNICATION

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HISTORY AND INSURANCES

Tales from the history of insurance revolve around the history of human beings from the 13th century to modern times. We remember the great events of history, but we often don't know how insurance has evolved around the needs and perceptions of people in different historical eras. The journey revolves around historical moments and realities of lived life, through emotional and sometimes curious tales and anecdotes, which provide insight into the spirit of insurance from its beginnings onwards.

THE EVOLUTION OF INSURANCE THROUGH HISTORY

FINANCIAL EDUCATION

Understanding risk and managing it from a financial perspective, with the stimulus provided by the historical material in the Museum, is the basis for financial literacy, which can help us to make informed choices and wise financial decisions, influencing our future. Those who are more competent make better decisions. Those who are less competent easily make bad choices.

This course provides a basic understanding of essential financial skills: available budget, savings, investments, timing, debt management.

THE ESSENTIAL FINANCIAL SKILLS FOR MAKING INFORMED DECISIONS

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THE MEDIEVAL MERCHANT

The merchant is a key figure throughout the Middle Ages, and the birth of insurance is closely linked to mercantile activities, which reached their highest expression in the major maritime cities of Italy. One of the most famous merchants in history is certainly Francesco Datini from Prato.

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USURY AND INSURANCE

In the past, especially during the medieval period, usury was a topic of great interest for canonists and theologians. Saint Bernardino of Siena dedicates an entire treatise specifically on usury and contracts. But he is not the only one...

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THE TONTINE

Dowry insurance and life annuities inspired the Neapolitan doctor and banker Lorenzo Tonti (1630-1695) who, traveling around Europe, offered projects to restore State finances: the so-called "Tontine", the first example of survival insurance. Discover in this video the changing fortunes of this particular form of insurance from the past.

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MODERN INCURANCE

In this series of videos dedicated to the history of insurance, a chapter dedicated to the modern age cannot be missing, a period in which insurance became a phenomenon well settled in the social, economic and ethical aspects of society.

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CALCULATION OF PROBABILITY

In this video we explore the world of numbers: mathematics is the protagonist with theories on the calculation of probabilities, theories that have ancient roots and which are the basis of modern statistical science. But it all started "for fun"...

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«FORTUNA DI MARE»

Here "luck" has nothing to do with the wealth transported by ships. In insurance jargon, "fortuna di mare" means a case of force majeure under maritime law, which identifies the numerous risks deriving from navigation.

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LLOYD'S

When we talk about the history of insurance, we cannot miss the famous Lloyd's of London which did not invent insurance, but can be considered to all intents and purposes the first insurance company.

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IN THE NAME OF GOD

The Museo dell'assicurazione has handwritten insurance policies dating back to the mid-16th century. In that period it was common practice - not only in Italy - to begin the contract with an invocation to God. Why? Let's find out...

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DIE KRISTALLNACHT

In Berlin and other German cities, on the night between 9 and 10 November 1938, 190 synagogues were set on fire and the windows of 7,500 Jewish shops were destroyed: hence the name "Kristallnacht".

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"CALL TO ARMS" POLICIES

In the insurance policies collection of the Museo dell'assicurazione there are some very particular documents. In this video you can discover what curious insurance sector the French insurers of the nineteenth century "invented".

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THE INSURANCE OF SLAVES

In the past, slaves were also subject of insurance contracts, unfortunately not as people, but as goods. The beneficiary of the policy, in the event of death, illness or injury of the slave, was, in fact, the "owner".

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FIRE-MARKS AND THE BIRTH OF FIRE INSURANCE

Fire-marks, whose use dates back to the end of the seventeenth century, had a very specific purpose which, originally, was not linked to a simple marketing operation. It is an interesting and curious story, waiting to be discovered...

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MORTALITY OR VITALITY TABLES

In the past, even slaves were subject to insurance contracts, not as people, unfortunately, but as property. The beneficiary of the policy, in the case of the slave's death, illness, or injury, was, in fact, the "owner."

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FIRST TRATIES ON INSURANCE

To narrate the history of insurance from its origins to the present day, it is essential to consider its legislative aspects. Insurance law, in fact, is still a discipline of fundamental importance today.

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LOMBARD STREET

Lombard Street is a famous London street that owes its name to the merchants of Northern Italy. In the time of King Edward I of England the so-called pawnbrokers originating in Northern Italy were known by English people by the generic term "Lombardi" (a specific region in Northern Italy).

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Academy

COURSE 1 HAIL PROTECTOR'S HISTORY

COURSE 2 WAR INSURANCE

COURSE 3 MERCHANT'S HISTORY

COURSE 4 FIRES IN HISTORY AND INSURERS' CREATIVITY

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COURSE 1
HAIL PROTECTOR'S HISTORY

COURSE 2
WAR INSURANCE

COURSE 3
MERCHANT'S HISTORY

COURSE 4
FIRES IN HISTORY AND INSURERS' CREATIVITY