The Italian contribution to the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction from its founding to the 1950s

In this paper I illustrate, also referring to unpublished documents, the Italian contribution to the activities of the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI) from 1908 to the 1950s when the Commissione Italiana per l’Insegnamento Matematico, was created. I will focus on: the role of Guido Castelnuovo in the earliest period; the ICMI’s influence on academic policies and school reforms in Italy; the dissolution of ICMI following World War I and the Italian side of the story; the political role of Salvatore Pincherle in re-establishing international collaboration in 1928; the birth of the Italian Commission for Mathematics Teaching and the role of Guido Ascoli.