  carlo ginzburg (; born april 15, 1939) is a noted italian historian and proponent of the field of microhistory. he is best known for il formaggio e i vermi (1976, english title: the cheese and the worms: the cosmos of a sixteenth century miller), which examined the beliefs of an italian heretic, menocchio, from montereale valcellina. in 1966, he published the night battles, an examination of the benandanti visionary folk tradition found in 16th-century friuli. he returned to looking at the visionary traditions of early modern europe for his 1989 book ecstasies: deciphering the witches' sabbath. == life == the son of natalia ginzburg and leone ginzburg, who were both jewish carlo ginzburg was born in 1939 in turin, italy. he received a phd from the university of pisa in 1961. he has subsequently held teaching positions at the university of bologna and at the university of california, los angeles (1988â2006); currently he teaches at the scuola normale superiore di pisa. his fields of interest range from the italian renaissance to early modern european history, with contributions to art history, literary studies, and the theory of historiography. in 1979, ginzburg formally requested that the former pope john paul ii open the inquisition archives. while the immediate response of those in the vatican to his request has not come to light yet, by 1991 a limited group of scholars was already granted access. in january 1998 the archives were formally opened to "qualified researchers." cardinal ratzinger (who later became pope benedict xvi) credited ginzburg, and his 1979 letter, as having been instrumental in the vatican's decision to open these archives.putting the inquisition on trial, los angeles times, april 17, 1998 along with paul ginsborg, marcello flores, sergio luzzatto, claudio pavone, enzo traverso, etc., ginzburg signed a call in january 2002 against a law project, presented by justice minister clemente mastella, which was to specifically penalize holocaust denial. they argued that italy's legislation was sufficient to cope with such acts. the amended law project finally restricted itself to reinforcing sentences concerning 
1939_births Italian_Jews Italian_historians Jewish_historians Living_people Microhistorians People_from_Turin Viareggio_Prize_winners