The Center for European Studies (CES) has invited Giorgio Napolitano, a member of the Italian Parliament and a leader of the Italian Communist Party, to speak at Harvard in an effort to increase the campus's exposure to European communism, Stanley H. Hoffmann, CES chairman and professor of Government, said yesterday.

Napolitano will discuss the political-economic crisis of his country next Tuesday in Emerson 105 at 8 p.m.

Peter M. Lange, assistant professor of Government, said "the idea is to get important political issues" to the forefront at Harvard. Both professors emphasized the immediacy and relevance of Euro-communism to world politics.

The appearances of international figures in communism at American universities reflect recent changes in the government's visa policies. While the Ford administration discouraged such visits, the present one has facilitated them by relaxing restraints on the granting of visas, Hoffmann said.

For example, a few years ago Napolitano could not accept lecture invitations from Harvard, Yale, MIT and Cornell, Lange said. Although "never formally denied a visa," he was "strongly advised against applying for one" by the State Department. Lange added.