Giovanni Aquilecchia, (known as Gianni) (28 November 1923 in Nettuno, Italy – 3 August 2001 in

Camden Camden may refer to: People * Camden (surname), a surname of English origin * Camden Joy (born 1964), American writer * Camden Toy (born 1957), American actor Places Australia * Camden, New South Wales * Camden, Rosehill, a heritage res ...

, London, heart failure) was Professor of Italian at Bedford College, London, and the merged college with

Royal Holloway, University of London Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departm ...

.Oxford Dictionary of National Biography - subscription based
/ref> He was one of the great Italian Renaissance scholars of the second half of the 20th century.Obituary in ''The Guardian'' 22 September 2001, accessed 12 June 2011
/ref>

Early life

He was the son of Vincenzo Aquilecchia, an officer in the Italian army, and his wife, Maria Letizia, née Filibeck. He was first educated in Turin and then at the liceum Torquato Tasso, Rome. At nineteen he entered the Faculty of Letters at the University of Rome and graduated with first-class honours in 1946.

Career

From 1946 to 1949 he was a teaching assistant at the University of Rome whilst studying for a

higher degree Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree. The organization and struc ...

. In 1950 he became a scholar at the Warburg Institute, London. In 1951 he became an assistant in Department of Italian Studies at the University of Manchester. In 1953 he became assistant lecturer in Italian at University College London becoming Reader there from 1959 to 1961. He then returned to Manchester as Serena Professor of Italian Language and Literature till 1970. He was then appointed Professor of Italian at Bedford College 1970-85 and remained as Emeritus Professor when Bedford joined with Royal Holloway. He was unhappy with the merger and continued giving his classes in central London, until he retired in 1989. His research was centred on

Giordano Bruno Giordano Bruno (; ; la, Iordanus Brunus Nolanus; born Filippo Bruno, January or February 1548 – 17 February 1600) was an Italian philosopher, mathematician, poet, cosmological theorist, and Hermetic occultist. He is known for his cosmologic ...

and from 1996 Gianni Aquilecchia was the president of the Centro Internazionale di Studi Bruniani in Naples. In 1996 the British Academy awarded him the Serena MedalSerena Medal
/ref> for services towards the furtherance of the study of Italian history, literature, art or economics. He was appointed Professor Emeritus and then honorary professor of Italian at University College London in 1998.

Personal life

In 1951 in London he married Costantina Maria Bacchetta (born c. 1929), a student. They had two sons and a daughter. The marriage was dissolved in 1973. In 1992 he married Catherine Posford.
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aquilecchia, Giovanni 1923 births 2001 deaths People from Nettuno Academics of Royal Holloway, University of London Academics of University College London Linguists from the United Kingdom Sapienza University of Rome alumni Academics of the Victoria University of Manchester Academics of Bedford College, London 20th-century linguists