This paper highlights the fecund economic debate, following the Unification of Italy, involving, on the one hand, the supporters of the classical liberal orthodoxy and, on the other, the group of Italian intellectuals constituting the so-called "Circle of Padua". It details the influence of Friedrich List and the German Historical School as regards the introduction of protectionist measures and social policies in the country during the last decades of the nineteenth century. It also points out the contribution of contemporary economists to the organization of the central state and their efforts to institutionalize the chair of Political Economy in several Italian universities. Finally, Alessandro Rossi's entrepreneurial activities and political agitation in favor of protectionism in that particular historical backdrop receive special attention.