Abstract

This contribution deals with the theme of the studies made on Don Bosco. In the article the author equally takes into consideration both the studies carried out in the Salesian world and the contributions which do not belong to the Salesian world in the strict sense. The main objective was to analyze the various periods in which different authors made a valid contribution in deepening the figure of Don Bosco throughout his history. Thanks to the edition of the sources and the publications of numerous studies, the traditional image of Don Bosco is no longer the only one. Alongside it gradually grows a richer image, more differentiated and more in conformity with the historical reality of its time. The renewed image of Don Bosco is more suggestive. The use of more reliable historical data has made it possible to have a clearer vision of both the ecclesial religious situations and the social and educational ones, in which it was necessary to relocate Don Bosco. Thanks to the considerations made, Don Bosco appears as one who in his care and action knew how to relate to the concrete situations of his own time. In that climate he developed a pedagogical and spiritual orientation which also for the future could be a light and strength both inside and outside the Salesian world.