The history of the DEAMS is closely linked to the history of the Faculty of Economics, whose origins date back to the end of the 19th century, and thus also to the establishment of the University of Trieste.

In response to the request of the people of the Giulia Region for an Italian university and to the growing professional and practical needs in the fields of commerce and navigation, on the initiative of Baron Pasquale Revoltella - a protagonist of 19th century Trieste emporiale, one of the first shareholders of Assicurazioni Generali, board member of Lloyd Austriaco, and great patron of the city's cultural and artistic life - the 'Scuola Superiore di Commercio, Fondazione Revoltella' was established in 1877 through a private donation. With the passage to Italian sovereignty, the 'Scuola Superiore di Commercio' was transformed into the 'Istituto Superiore di Studi Commerciali' (Higher Institute of Commercial Studies) in 1920, with the addition of a third year of the course, equal to the similar Italian institutes. This would shortly afterwards become a university.

In 1921, a fourth year was added to the study system and - thanks to the vote of the teaching staff and the financial commitment of the Municipality of Trieste, which donated the funds collected under Austrian rule for the construction of the university - the assimilation of higher institutes to universities was achieved. The Higher Institute was thus transformed, by Royal Decree No. 1338 of 8 August 1924, into the "University of Economic and Commercial Studies", comprising only the Faculty of Economic and Commercial Sciences.

The current University of Trieste subsequently developed on this basis, of which the Faculty of Economics and Business (named Faculty of Economics since 1993) represented the first core. However, Law No. 240 of 30/12/2010 put an end to the Faculties, which had to be absorbed into Departments, previously dedicated exclusively to research activities.

In 2010, the three pre-existing Departments of Economic and Statistical Sciences (DISES), Economics and Business Technique (DETA) and Applied Mathematics for Economic, Statistical and Actuarial Sciences (DIMA) merged to form the current Department of Economic, Business, Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (DEAMS).

Following Law 240/2010, in 2012 the Faculty of Economics was incorporated into the DEAMS - Department of Economic, Business, Mathematical and Statistical Sciences named after Prof. Bruno de Finetti, which thus complements its research competences with teaching competences.

Who is Bruno de Finetti? Brief historical notes. 

Prof. Bruno de Finetti was a lecturer at the University of Trieste from 1939 to 1954 (in a first phase while he was an employee of Assicurazioni Generali, in a second phase - from 1942 - as the holder of the chair of fundamental teachings in Mathematical Analysis, General and Financial Mathematics at the Faculty of Science, first, and then Economics.

His research activity covered central themes of economics, statistics, and the calculation of probability with fundamental applications to insurance and finance, decision-making under uncertainty, and Paretian economic theory. His fundamental concept of subjective probability can be interpreted as a certain price of a random amount, with possible values zero and one, assessed by an individual in possession of a given set of information.

De Finetti's Trieste period is undoubtedly the most fruitful. It is the period during which his fundamental contributions in the fields of financial and actuarial mathematics, statistics and the calculus of probability, demography and economics are published. And it was also during this same period that a group of scholars and researchers who would follow his teachings and develop many of his insights, such as Professors Daboni and De Ferra, were formed under his guidance at the University of Trieste.

The current DEAMS retains at its core some of the main thematic areas developed by de Finetti, such as economics and the development of quantitative methods, and also registers the concrete presence of researchers who can rightfully be considered the direct descendants of de Finetti's approach and tradition in economic, business, statistical and mathematical studies with a focus on applications in the insurance and financial fields.

Learn more about Bruno de Finetti in his official website. 

(Source: Official website)