Benedetto Croce, KOCI, COSML (Italian: [beneˈdetto ˈkroːtʃe]; 25 February 1866 – 20 November 1952)^[3] was an Italian idealist philosopher,^[4] historian,^[5] and politician who wrote on numerous topics, including philosophy, history, historiography, and aesthetics. A political liberal in most regards, he formulated a distinction between liberalism (as support for civil liberties) and "liberism" (as support for laissez-faire economics and capitalism).^[6][7] Croce had considerable influence on other Italian intellectuals, from Marxists to Italian fascists, such as Antonio Gramsci and Giovanni Gentile, respectively.^[3]