Giuliano da Empoli, a professor at Sciences Po and the author of The Wizard of the Kremlin, has recently released L’Heure des prédateurs, which will be available in English next October as The Hour of the Predator. This work examines the contemporary landscape of new autocrats collaborating with technology tycoons.
Once an enthusiastic advocate for technology, Da Empoli, who served as deputy mayor for cultural affairs in Florence and later as a political advisor to the disruptive Italian leader Matteo Renzi, reflects on his journey of disillusionment in Le Florentin. His experiences during Renzi’s premiership (2014-2016) mirror the disillusionment faced by 20th-century communist activists.
After Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election, Da Empoli recognized the influence of big data in supporting the authoritarian populism of figures like Donald Trump, Jair Bolsonaro, and Matteo Salvini, a theme he explores in Les Ingénieurs du Chaos.
An admirer of Goethe and television series, he is a passionate advocate for Europe and leads the think tank Volta, balancing his interests in writing and politics. His understanding of the darker aspects of politics began at the age of 12, when his father, economist Antonio da Empoli, was injured in a terrorist attack by a far-left group, marking the moment he realized that politics often entails suffering.
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