Francesco De Sanctis (1817-1883). De Sanctis, a Hegelian, was made professor of comparative literature at the University of Naples in 1871, and earlier was minister of public education (1861) at the behest of King Victor Emmanuel II . De Sanctis had many faithful disciples, among whom Benedetto Croce was to achieve the most fame. De Sanctis' chief contribution was to aesthetics, his influence upon Italian literary criticism remains strong up to the present time.