Pietro Fanfani (21 April 1815, in

Pistoia Pistoia (, is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of a province of the same name, located about west and north of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno. It is a typi ...

, Italy – 4 March 1879, in

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

) was an Italian

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

, humorist and novelist.

Biography

He studied medicine, but gave his attention chiefly to philology, and in 1847 founded at Pistoia a magazine relating to that science, ''Ricordi filologici'' (“Philological Record”). The next year, he enlisted in the war against the

Austrians , pop = 8–8.5 million , regions = 7,427,759 , region1 = , pop1 = 684,184 , ref1 = , region2 = , pop2 = 345,620 , ref2 = , region3 = , pop3 = 197,990 , ref3 ...

, and fell into their hands. After his release, he published (1849) critical comments on the dictionary of the Academy della Crusca, which involved him in an acrimonious and successful controversy with that institution.

Gioberti Vincenzo Gioberti (; 5 April 180126 October 1852) was an Italian Catholic priest, philosopher, publicist and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Sardinia from 1848 to 1849. He was a prominent spokesman for liberal Catholicism. Biog ...

obtained employment for him in the ministry of education at

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

. Subsequently, he held an office under the Tuscan government at Florence, where in 1859 he became director of the famous

Biblioteca Marucelliana The Marucelliana Library or Biblioteca Marucelliana, is a public library, founded by the mid-18th century, and located on Via Camillo Cavour # 43, in Florence, region of Tuscany, Italy. History The library was opened to the public on September 18 ...

(“Marucellian Library”), which post he held until his death.

Works

Philological

* ''Etruria, studi di filologia, di letteratura, di pubblica istruzione e di belle arti'' (2 vols., Florence, 1851-'2) * ''Il Borghini, giornale di filologia e di lettere italiane'' (3 vols., 1863–65)
''Vocabolario dell' uso toscano''
(“Vocabulary of Tuscan Usage,” 2 vols., 1863) * ''Commento alla Divina Commedia d'Anonimo Florentine del secolo XIV'' (3 vols., Bologna, 1866) * ''Lettere precettive di eccellenti scrittori'' (2d ed., 1871)

Humor

* ''Writ at Random'' * ''The Laughing Democritus: Literary Recreations''

Other

''Regola dei frati di S. Jacopo d'Altopascio''
(Bologna: Press Gaetano Romagnoli, 1864) * ''La Paolina'', a novel in the Florentine dialect (2d ed., 1868) * ''Una bambola'', a story for children (1869) * ''Cecco d'Ascoli'', a historical narrative of the 14th century (1870; Leipzig, 1871) * ''The Coachman and his Family''

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fanfani, Pietro 1815 births 1879 deaths Italian philologists 19th-century Italian novelists 19th-century male writers Italian humorists Italian lexicographers Italian librarians 19th-century lexicographers