The University of Florence (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

: ''Università degli Studi di Firenze'', UniFI) is an Italian public research university located in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. It comprises 12 schools and has around 50,000 students enrolled.

History

The first university in Florence was the

Studium Generale is the old customary name for a medieval university in medieval Europe. Overview There is no official definition for the term . The term ' first appeared at the beginning of the 13th century out of customary usage, and meant a place where stud ...

, which was established by the Florentine Republic in 1321. The Studium was recognized by

Pope Clement VI Pope Clement VI ( la, Clemens VI; 1291 – 6 December 1352), born Pierre Roger, was head of the Catholic Church from 7 May 1342 to his death in December 1352. He was the fourth Avignon pope. Clement reigned during the first visitation of the Bl ...

in 1349, and authorized to grant regular degrees. The Pope also established that the first Italian faculty of

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

would be in

. The Studium became an imperial university in 1364, but was moved to Pisa in 1473 when

Lorenzo the Magnificent Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici (; 1 January 1449 – 8 April 1492) was an Italian statesman, banker, ''de facto'' ruler of the Florentine Republic and the most powerful and enthusiastic patron of Renaissance culture in Italy. Also known as Lorenzo ...

gained control of Florence. Charles VIII moved it back from 1497 to 1515, but it was moved to Pisa again when the

Medici The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Mu ...

family returned to power. The modern university dates from 1859, when a group of disparate higher-studies institutions grouped together in the Istituto di Studi Pratici e di Perfezionamento, which a year later was recognized as a full-fledged university by the government of newly unified Italy. In 1923, the Istituto was officially denominated as University by the

Italian Parliament The Italian Parliament ( it, Parlamento italiano) is the national parliament of the Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1943), the transitio ...

Organization

The university is subdivided into 12 schools, which are: Agriculture;

Architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

; Arts; Economics; Education; Engineering; Law; Mathematics,

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

and

Natural Sciences Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

; Medicine and Surgery; Pharmacology;

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

; and

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...

. Faculties are located in traditionally strategic areas based on their subject matter. The Faculty of Economics, Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Political Sciences are in the Polo delle Scienze Sociali (campus of social sciences), in the Novoli district, near the new courthouse. The Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, the Faculty of Pharmacology, and certain scientific and engineering departments are in the Careggi district, close to the hospital. The Faculty of Engineering is located at the S. Marta Institute, whereas the Faculty of Agriculture is in front of the

Parco delle Cascine The Parco delle Cascine (Cascine Park) is a monumental and historical park in the city of Florence. The park covers an area of 160 hectares (395 acres). It has the shape of a long and narrow stripe, on the north bank of the Arno river. It extends ...

. The Faculty of Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences is located in Sesto Fiorentino. The Faculty of Architecture is in the center of the city, as the

Accademia di Belle Arti This is a list of the tertiary-level schools or academies of fine art in Italy that are recognised by the Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca, the Italian ministry of higher education. Accademie di Belle Arti The offic ...

, home of Michelangelo's

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

. The Faculties of Literature, History, Philosophy, and Pedagogy are in the centre of

Corporate relations

Florence has a wide network of corporate placement opportunities for its students. Florence has recently collaborated internationally with TreeAndHumanKnot, part of the RisingIndia ThinkTank which provides opportunities abroad for its students.

Notable people

Alumni

Notable alumni of the University of Florence include: *Italian journalists

Indro Montanelli Indro Alessandro Raffaello Schizogene Montanelli (; 22 April 1909 – 22 July 2001) was an Italian journalist, historian and writer. He was one of the fifty World Press Freedom Heroes according to the International Press Institute. A volunte ...

Oriana Fallaci Oriana Fallaci (; 29 June 1929 – 15 September 2006) was an Italian journalist and author. A partisan during World War II, she had a long and successful journalistic career. Fallaci became famous worldwide for her coverage of war and revolution ...

, Nadia Toffa *Former

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, ...

and current Secretary-General of La Francophonie

Michaëlle Jean Michaëlle Jean (; born September 6, 1957) is a Canadian stateswoman and former journalist who served from 2005 to 2010 as governor general of Canada, the 27th since Canadian Confederation. She is the first Haitian Canadian and black person ...

*Pope

Pius II Pope Pius II ( la, Pius PP. II, it, Pio II), born Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini ( la, Aeneas Silvius Bartholomeus, links=no; 18 October 1405 – 14 August 1464), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 August ...

*Italian Prime Ministers Giovanni Spadolini,

Lamberto Dini Lamberto Dini CGMG (born 1 March 1931) is an Italian politician and economist. He was the Director General of Bank of Italy from 1979 to 1994, Minister of Treasury from 1994 to 1996, the 51st Prime Minister of Italy from 1995 to 1996, and Forei ...

and

Matteo Renzi Matteo Renzi (; born 11 January 1975) is an Italian politician who served as prime minister of Italy from 2014 to 2016. He has been a senator for Florence since 2018. Renzi has served as the leader of Italia Viva (IV) since 2019, having bee ...

*Italian political leaders

Giorgio La Pira Giorgio La Pira, TOSD (Raimondo in religious life; 9 January 1904 – 5 November 1977) was an Italian Catholic politician who served as the Mayor of Florence. He also served as deputy of the Christian Democrats and participated in the assemb ...

*Architect Pier Carlo Bontempi *President of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

David Sassoli David Maria Sassoli (; 30 May 1956 – 11 January 2022) was an Italian politician and journalist who served as the president of the European Parliament from 3 July 2019 until his death on 11 January 2022. Sassoli was first elected as a member ...

. *Architect

Hamid Gabbay Hamid Gabbay (born c. 1943) is an Iranian-born American architect. He was a professor at the University of Tehran and a prolific architect in Iran prior to the Iranian Revolution. Since he emigrated to the United States in 1978, he has designed man ...

*Astrophysicist

Margherita Hack Margherita Hack (; 12 June 1922 – 29 June 2013) was an Italian astrophysicist and scientific disseminator. The asteroid 8558 Hack, discovered in 1995, was named in her honour. Biography Hack was born in Florence. Her father Roberto Hack was ...

*Immunologist Paola Ricciardi-Castagnoli *Philosopher Giacomo Marramao *

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

official Annalisa Ciampi *Poets

Margherita Guidacci Margherita Guidacci (April 25, 1921 – June 19, 1992), was an Italian poet born in Florence, Italy. She graduated from the University of Florence in 1943 and traveled to England and Ireland in 1947. Guidacci married the sociologist Lucca Pinna ...

and Mario Luzi *Doctor Francesco Antommarchi, personal doctor of Napoleon *Judge

Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf ( so, Cabdulqaawi Axmed Yuusuf) is a Somali lawyer and judge serving on the International Court of Justice since 2009. He served as the court's president from 2018 to 2021. Early life Yusuf was born in the northeastern t ...

of the International Court of Justice *Philosopher

Giovanni Gentile Giovanni Gentile (; 30 May 1875 – 15 April 1944) was an Italian neo-Hegelian idealist philosopher, educator, and fascist politician. The self-styled "philosopher of Fascism", he was influential in providing an intellectual foundation for ...

*Indian Luge Player

Shiva Keshavan Shiva Keshavan, (born 25 August 1981) is a six-time Olympian and the first Indian representative to compete in luge at the Winter Olympic Games. He set a new Asian speed record at after beating the previous record of and won a gold medal in ...

Francesco Milleri Francesco Milleri (born in 1959) is an Italian businessman. He is the chairman of EssilorLuxottica since June 2022. Early life Francesco Milleri was born in 1959. He graduated from the University of Florence with a bachelor of laws, and earned a ...

, CEO of

Luxottica Luxottica Group S.p.A. is an Italian eyewear conglomerate and the world's largest company in the eyewear industry. It is based in Milan, Italy. Luxottica is a vertically integrated company, which has been described as a monopoly—it designs, ma ...

Giulio Racah Giulio (Yoel) Racah ( he, ג'וליו (יואל) רקח; February 9, 1909 – August 28, 1965) was an Italian–Israeli physicist and mathematician. He was Acting President of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem from 1961 to 1962. The crater ...

, Acting President of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem * Mirella Levi D'Ancona, art historian

Faculty

John Argyropoulos John Argyropoulos (/ˈd͡ʒɑn ˌɑɹd͡ʒɪˈɹɑ.pə.ləs/ el, Ἰωάννης Ἀργυρόπουλος ''Ioannis Argyropoulos''; it, Giovanni Argiropulo; surname also spelt ''Argyropulus'', or ''Argyropulos'', or ''Argyropulo''; c. 1415 – 2 ...

taught

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

from 1456. *

Raphael Badius Raphael Badius was a Florentine Dominican of the seventeenth century. Overview Badius was versed in Tuscan and Florentine antiquities, and his researches made him conversant with matters of history and hagiography. He rendered assistance to th ...

, dean in 1681 *

Carlo Emilio Bonferroni Carlo Emilio Bonferroni (28 January 1892 – 18 August 1960) was an Italian mathematician who worked on probability theory. Biography Bonferroni studied piano and conducting in Turin Conservatory and at University of Turin under Giuseppe Peano ...

, statistician * Giovanni Boccaccio, poet, professor of Ancient Greek and Literature *

Piero Calamandrei Piero Calamandrei (21 April 1889 – 27 September 1956) was an Italian author, jurist, soldier, university professor, and politician. Born in Florence, he was one of Italy's leading authorities on the law of civil procedure. After studies in Pis ...

, jurist, professor in the faculty of law, born in 1889. *

Antonio Cassese Antonio Cassese (1 January 1937 – 21 October 2011) was an Italian jurist who specialized in public international law. He was the first President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the first President of the Sp ...

, international jurist, president of several international tribunals *

Mario Draghi Mario Draghi (; born 3 September 1947) is an Italian economist, academic, banker and civil servant who served as prime minister of Italy from February 2021 to October 2022. Prior to his appointment as prime minister, he served as President of ...

, prime minister of Italy from 2021, President of ECB, full professor of Monetary Economics and Monetary Policy in the faculty of Political Science from 1981 to 1991. * Enrico Fermi, physicist and

Nobel prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

, professor of Mathematical Physics * Giorgio Gaja, international jurist, former member of the

International Law Commission The International Law Commission (ILC) is a body of experts responsible for helping develop and codify international law. It is composed of 34 individuals recognized for their expertise and qualifications in international law, who are elected by t ...

and judge of the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...

* Paolo Grossi, judge of the

Constitutional Court of Italy The Constitutional Court of the Italian Republic ( it, Corte costituzionale della Repubblica Italiana) is the highest court of Italy in matters of constitutional law. Sometimes, the name ''Consulta'' is used as a metonym for it, because its sessi ...

* Mario Luzi, poet, professor of French language and Literature *

Giovanni Sartori Giovanni Sartori (; 13 May 1924 – 4 April 2017) was an Italian political scientist who specialized in the study of democracy, political parties and comparative politics. Biography Born in Florence in 1924, Sartori graduated in Political and So ...

, political scientist, professor of Political Science, born in 1924 in Florence. * Giovanni Spadolini, historian and important Italian politician, professor of Contemporary History, born in 1925 in Florence. *

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...

carried out studies on

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having it ...

at the Santa Maria Nuova Hospital in the center of town which is today a teaching hospital affiliated with the University of Florence. *

Giuseppe Conte Giuseppe Conte (; born 8 August 1964) is an Italian jurist, academic, and politician who served as prime minister of Italy from June 2018 to February 2021. He has been the president of the Five Star Movement (M5S) since August 2021. Conte ...

, prime minister of Italy from 2018 to 2021, teaches private law

Points of interest

Museo Galileo Museo Galileo, the former ''Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza'' (Institute and Museum of the History of Science) is located in Florence, Italy, in Piazza dei Giudici, along the River Arno and close to the Uffizi Gallery. The museum, dedicate ...

Museo di Storia Naturale di Firenze The Museo di Storia Naturale di Firenze is a natural history museum in 6 major collections, located in Florence, Italy. It is part of the University of Florence. Museum collections are open mornings except Wednesday, and all day Saturday; an adm ...

Orto Botanico di Firenze The Orto Botanico di Firenze (2.3 hectares), also known as the Giardino dei Semplici, the "Garden of simples",A ''simple'' is a medicament obtained from an herb (see Herbalism), as opposed to a ''compound'' mixed by the apothecary on instruction fr ...