Augusto Mancini (2 March 1875 – 18 September 1957) 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 ...

Hellenist Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

and politician.

Life

Mancini was born in Livorno. In 1895 he graduated in letters from

Pisa University The University of Pisa ( it, Università di Pisa, UniPi), officially founded in 1343, is one of the oldest universities in Europe. History The Origins The University of Pisa was officially founded in 1343, although various scholars place ...

in 1895 and began teaching at the Liceo Machiavelli in

Lucca Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957. Lucca is known as one ...

, which he soon adopted as his home town. He was appointed lecturer in

ancient Greek literature Ancient Greek literature is literature written in the Ancient Greek language from the earliest texts until the time of the Byzantine Empire. The earliest surviving works of ancient Greek literature, dating back to the early Archaic period, are ...

in 1898 and succeeded

Giovanni Pascoli Giovanni Placido Agostino Pascoli (; 31 December 1855 – 6 April 1912) was an Italian poet, classical scholar and an emblematic figure of Italian literature in the late nineteenth century. Alongside Gabriele D'Annunzio, he was one of the great ...

in the chair of Greek and Latin grammar at Messina in 1902, remaining there until 1907 when Pisa University gave him the chair in ancient Greek literature (again replacing Pascoli), which he held until 1948. He was president of Lucca's academy for sciences, letters and arts and a member of the Accademia dei Lincei. He did not limit his studies to classical philology but also studied authors of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

and

Risorgimento The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...

eras. He was one of the first members of Lucca's Green Cross (Croce Verde), serving for many years as its president - they set up a scholarship in his name after his death and also named one of their new ambulances after him in 1957. A keen supporter of the ideas of

Mazzini Giuseppe Mazzini (, , ; 22 June 1805 – 10 March 1872) was an Italian politician, journalist, and activist for the unification of Italy (Risorgimento) and spearhead of the Italian revolutionary movement. His efforts helped bring about the in ...

, the Domus Mazziniana in Pisa was set up on his initiative and he became its first president. A convinced republican, he was part of the

Italian Republican Party The Italian Republican Party ( it, Partito Repubblicano Italiano, PRI) is a liberal and social-liberal political party in Italy. Founded in 1895, the PRI is the oldest political party still active in Italy. The PRI has old roots and a long hist ...

until 1913, when he left it after disagreeing with its abstentionist policy. He became a candidate for the

Italian Radical Party The Italian Radical Party ( it, Partito Radicale Italiano), also known as the Historical Radical Party (''Partito Radicale storico''), was a radical, republican, secularist and social-liberal political party in Italy. History Since 1877, t ...

for the college of

Borgo a Mozzano Borgo a Mozzano is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Lucca, in northern Tuscany (Italy), located on the Serchio River. History The town is mentioned for the first time in 879, when a document mentioned one place ''In loco Mozzano prope Dec ...

in the Italian general election of 1913, but was defeated by the cleric Tomba. He tried again in the 1915 election with the support of the left in Lucca and was elected after his rival's win was annulled for fraud. He became a supporter of interventionism in the years after World War One and broke with the socialists. Re-elected to parliament in 1919 and 1921, he entered the

Social Democracy Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...

party after the radicals split. He soon became a target for fascists in Lucca and was forced to withdraw from all public office. After the assassination of

Giacomo Matteotti Giacomo Matteotti (; 22 May 1885 – 10 June 1924) was an Italian socialist politician. On 30 May 1924, he openly spoke in the Italian Parliament alleging the Fascists committed fraud in the recently held elections, and denounced the violence ...

, he and other anti-fascists from Lucca formed a secret committee which re-emerged during the

Italian resistance The Italian resistance movement (the ''Resistenza italiana'' and ''la Resistenza'') is an umbrella term for the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Socia ...

era. The fascist regime arrested and imprisoned him from 5 January to 14 May 1944 and he became a point of reference for the democrats in Lucca, being appointed the first president of the city's clandestine

National Liberation Committee The National Liberation Committee ( it, Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale, CLN) was a political umbrella organization and the main representative of the Italian resistance movement fighting against Nazi Germany’s forces during the German occup ...

. At the end of the Second World War, he took part in three legislatures, took part in the leadership of the Consulta Nazionale and also became the first freely-elected reader at Pisa University from 8 June 1945 to 31 October 1947. He then became a professor emeritus, though he still taught in the 1947-1948 academic year. He was retired for reaching the maximum age on 1 November 1950 and then made a professor emeritus by presidential decree on 29 January 1951. Returning to the Republican Party, in 1953 he was a candidate for the senate elections of 1953 but did not win his seat. He died in Lucca on 18 September 1957 from a brain hemorrhage.

References

Bibliography

* Donato Morelli, ''Augusto Mancini, Memorie dal carcere.'', Quaderni della Nuova Antologia, XXVII, Le Monnier, Firenze, 1986. * Roberto Pizzi, ''Mancini, studioso pronto al confronto con la società'', in Metropoli, Lucca, n. 20 del 26/5/2000. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mancini, Augusto 1875 births 1957 deaths People from Livorno Italian Republican Party politicians Italian Radical Party politicians Social Democracy (Italy) politicians Deputies of Legislature XXIV of the Kingdom of Italy Deputies of Legislature XXV of the Kingdom of Italy Deputies of Legislature XXVI of the Kingdom of Italy Members of the National Council (Italy) Politicians from Tuscany Hellenists Italian philologists Academic staff of the University of Pisa Italian resistance movement members