Professor Franco Pierno of the Faculty of Arts & Science’s Department of Italian Studies has been named the first-ever Canadian member of the prestigious Accademia della Crusca — Italy’s leading institution of language research and the world’s oldest linguistic academy.
Pierno — whose main field of research is the history of the Italian language, with a focus on relations between language and religion —was named a corresponding member of the academy on October 25. Currently comprised of 102 academicians, Pierno is the only active member from North America.
Founded in 1583, this eminent Florence-based society of scholars of Italian linguistics and philology is Italy’s most important national body for the study of the Italian language. In 1612, the academy published the first edition of its dictionary, the Vocabolario degli Accademici della Crusca which has served as the model for similar works in French, Spanish, German and English.
“I felt immensely happy when I heard the news because this is a noteworthy academic achievement for any Italianist,” says Pierno who before coming to the University of Toronto, taught at the University of Strasbourg in France, the University of Basel and the University of Neuchâtel, both in Switzerland.
“Being a member is perhaps the highest honour for scholars of the Italian language.”