The text analyzes the influence of liberal thinking in the beginning of Gramsci's intellectual and political development. It shows that initially Gramsci finds in the ideas of Benedetto Croce and Giovanni Gentile, supporters of Italian new-idealism, a more progressive and modern framework for examining Italy than in the ideas defended by Guglielmo Ferrero e Filippo Turati, exponents of the Italian Socialist Party. His support of liberalism manifests itself in the defense of modernity and the capacity for self-determination. But the liberal influence did not stop him from welcoming the october Revolution of 1917, although there still remained points of contact between Croce's thinking and his own. Gramsci's embrace of communism and his rupture with new-idealist and liberal trends takes place later, during the deepening of historical conflicts, such as Word War I and the increasing antagonism between the liberal West and the Soviet Revolution.
Gramsci; Liberalism; New-idealism; Italian Socialist Party