Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937) read linguistics at Turin University (1911–1915) with professor Matteo Bartoli. He followed the ‘neo-linguistic’ methodological trend, in contrast with the neo-grammarians, in order to apply the critical methods of historical materialism to linguistic research. In the fascist prisons he wrote the Quaderni del carcere (1929–1935) in which are discussed various subjects of linguistic theory and of Italian language history. Language is defined as a product of social relations, and the linguistic history of a nation is interpreted as the history of the formation and organization of the ruling and intellectual classes, that exert their own “hegemony” over the whole nation. His sociolinguistic approach was in contrast with the idealistic theories of language then prevailing in Italy.