LITTA, Pompeo. — Milanese historian, b. 24 Sept. 1781, d. at Limido (Como) 17 Aug. 1852. He took part while still very young in various Napoleonic battles (Sacile, Wagram, etc.); in 1811 he commanded an artillery corps for the defence of the Adriatic littoral, stationed between the Po and the Tronto; in 1814 he defended the citadel of Ancona against Macdonald. In 1848 he was Minister of War in the provisional government of Lombardy.
His reputation rests on his monumental work Le 113 storie di Famiglie celebri italiane (he began the series in 1819 with the history of the house of Muzio Attendolo Sforza), a vast undertaking too often exploited only in the narrow field of heraldry, whereas it constitutes a genuine work of history.
Bibl.: C. Belgioioso, Commemorazione del conte P. L., Milano 1874; G. Scardovelli, Il conte P. L., Bologna 1891; A. Boschetti, I cataloghi dell'opera di P. L., Modena 1930.