Renzo De Felice (8 April 1929 – 25 May 1996) was an Italian historian. He was born in Rieti and studied at the Sapienza University of Rome. In his youth De Felice joined the Italian Communist Party. He left the party after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. He wrote more than 20 books and a large number of essays based on his extensive research. He was especially known for his studies on fascism. On this subject he was considered an expert.