The University of Bologna (, abbreviated Unibo) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are "the key sites of Knowledge production modes, knowledge production", along with "intergenerational ...

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, Italy. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organised as guilds of students () by the late 12th century. It is the oldest university in continuous operation in the world, and the first degree-awarding institution of higher learning.Hunt Janin: "The university in medieval life, 1179–1499", McFarland, 2008, , p. 55f.de Ridder-Symoens, Hilde
''A History of the University in Europe: Volume 1, Universities in the Middle Ages''
Cambridge University Press, 1992, , pp. 47–55 The university's emblem carries the motto, ''Alma Mater Studiorum'' ("Nourishing mother of studies"), and the date ''A.D. 1088''. With over 90,000 students, the University of Bologna is one of the largest universities in Europe. The university saw the first woman to earn a university degree and teach at a university,

Bettisia Gozzadini Bettisia Gozzadini also known as Bitisia Biltisia and Beatrix (1209 – 2 November 1261), was a Bolognese jurist who lectured at the University of Bologna from about 1239. She is thought to be the first woman to have taught at a university. Li ...

, and the first woman to earn both a doctorate in science and a salaried position as a university professor,

Laura Bassi Laura Maria Caterina Bassi Veratti (29 October 1711 – 20 February 1778) was an Italian physicist and academic. Recognized and depicted as "Minerva" (goddess of wisdom), she was the first woman to have a doctorate in science, and List of women ...

. The University of Bologna has had a central role in the sciences during the medieval age and the Italian renaissance, where it housed and educated

Nicholas Copernicus Nicolaus Copernicus (19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance polymath who formulated a mathematical model, model of Celestial spheres#Renaissance, the universe that placed heliocentrism, the Sun rather than Earth at its cen ...

as well as numerous other renaissance mathematicians. It has educated a wide range of notable alumni, amongst them a large number of Italian scientists, prime ministers, supreme court judges, and priests. Aside from its main campus in Bologna, the University has additional campuses in

Cesena Cesena (; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy; and - with Forlì - is the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena. Served by Autostrada A14 (Italy), Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine M ...

Forlì Forlì ( ; ; ; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is, together with Cesena, the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena.The city is situated along the Via Emilia, to the east of the Montone river, ...

Ravenna Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...

and

Rimini Rimini ( , ; or ; ) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. Sprawling along the Adriatic Sea, Rimini is situated at a strategically-important north-south passage along the coast at the southern tip of the Po Valley. It is ...

as well as branch centres abroad in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, and

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

. It houses the fully funded boarding college ''Collegio Superiore di Bologna,'' the Bologna School of Advanced Studies, the botanical gardens of Bologna, a large number of museums, libraries and archeological collections, as well as the Bologna University Press.

History

The date of the University of Bologna's founding is uncertain. The university was granted a charter (''

Authentica habita ''Authentica habita'',"Authentica Habita."
''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 2010. E ...

'') by

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

Frederick I Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (; ), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aa ...

in 1158, but in the 19th century, a committee of historians led by Giosuè Carducci traced the founding of the university back to 1088, which would make it the oldest continuously operating university in the world. However, the development of the institution at Bologna into a university was a gradual process. Paul Grendler writes that "it is not likely that enough instruction and organization existed to merit the term ''university'' before the 1150s, and it might not have happened before the 1180s." The university arose around mutual aid societies (known as ''universitates scholarium'') of foreign students called "

nations A nation is a type of social organization where a collective identity, a national identity, has emerged from a combination of shared features across a given population, such as language, history, ethnicity, culture, territory, or societ ...

" (as they were grouped by nationality) for protection against city laws which imposed

collective punishment Collective punishment is a punishment or sanction imposed on a group or whole community for acts allegedly perpetrated by a member or some members of that group or area, which could be an ethnic or political group, or just the family, friends a ...

on foreigners for the crimes and debts of their countrymen. These students then hired scholars from the city's pre-existing lay and ecclesiastical schools to teach them subjects such as liberal arts, notarial law, theology, and ''ars dictaminis'' (

scrivener A scrivener (or scribe) was a person who, before the advent of compulsory education, could literacy, read and write or who wrote letters as well as court and legal documents. Scriveners were people who made their living by writing or copying w ...

y). The lectures were given in informal schools called ''scholae''. In time the various ''universitates scholarium'' decided to form a larger association, or ''Studium''—thus, the university. The ''Studium'' grew to have a strong position of

collective bargaining Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and labour rights, rights for ...

with the city, since by then it derived significant revenue through visiting foreign students, who would depart if they were not well treated. The foreign students in Bologna received greater rights, and collective punishment was ended. There was also collective bargaining with the scholars who served as professors at the university. By the initiation or threat of a

student strike Campus protest or student protest is a form of student activism that takes the form of protest at university campuses. Such protests encompass a wide range of activities that indicate student dissatisfaction with a given political or academi ...

, the students could enforce their demands as to the content of courses and the pay professors would receive. University professors were hired, fired, and had their pay determined by an elected council of two representatives from every student "nation" which governed the institution, with the most important decisions requiring a majority vote from all the students to ratify. The professors could also be fined if they failed to finish classes on time, or complete course material by the end of the semester. A student committee, the "Denouncers of Professors", kept tabs on them and reported any misbehavior. Professors themselves were not powerless, however, forming ''collegia doctorum'' (professors' committees) in each faculty, and securing the rights to set examination fees and degree requirements. Eventually, the city ended this arrangement, paying professors from tax revenues and making it a chartered

public university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national university is considered public varies from o ...

The university is historically notable for its teaching of

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

and civil law; indeed, it was set up in large part with the aim of studying the '' Digest,'' a central text in

Roman law Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (), to the (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I. Roman law also den ...

, which had been rediscovered in Italy in 1070, and the university was central in the development of

medieval Roman law Medieval Roman law is the continuation and development of ancient Roman law that developed in the European Late Middle Ages. Based on the ancient text of Roman law, '' Corpus iuris civilis'', it added many new concepts, and formed the basis of the ...

. Until modern times, the only degree granted at that university was the doctorate.

earned a law degree in 1237, being one of the first women in history to obtain a university degree. She taught law from her own home for two years, and in 1239 she taught at the university, becoming the first woman in history to teach at a university. In 1477, when Pope

Sixtus IV Pope Sixtus IV (or Xystus IV, ; born Francesco della Rovere; (21 July 1414 – 12 August 1484) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 August 1471 until his death in 1484. His accomplishments as pope included ...

issued a

papal bull A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden Seal (emblem), seal (''bulla (seal), bulla'') traditionally appended to authenticate it. History Papal ...

, authorizing the creation of

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

in Sweden, the bull specified that the new university would have the same freedoms and privileges as the University of Bologna—a highly desirable situation for the Swedish scholars. This included the right of Uppsala to establish the four traditional faculties of

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

, law (

Canon Law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

and

), medicine, and philosophy, and to award the bachelor's, master's, licentiate, and doctoral degrees.

was born into a prosperous family of Bologna and was privately educated from the age of five.Laura Bassi
at Encyclopedia.com Bassi's education and intellect was noticed by Prospero Lorenzini Lambertini, who became the Archbishop of Bologna in 1731 (later

Pope Benedict XIV Pope Benedict XIV (; ; 31 March 1675 – 3 May 1758), born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 17 August 1740 to his death in May 1758. Pope Benedict X (1058–1059) is now con ...

). Lambertini became the official patron of Bassi. He arranged for a public debate between Bassi and four professors from the University of Bologna on 17 April 1732. In 1732, Bassi, aged twenty, publicly defended her forty-nine theses on ''Philosophica Studia'' at the Sala degli Anziani of the

Palazzo Pubblico The Palazzo Pubblico (town hall) is a historic palace in Siena, Tuscany, in central Italy. Located on the Piazza del Campo, it is one of the principal architectural landmarks of the city's historic center. Construction began in 1297 to serve ...

. The University of Bologna awarded her a doctorate degree on 12 May. She became the first woman to receive a doctorate in science, and the second woman in the world to earn a philosophy doctorate after Elena Cornaro Piscopia in 1678, fifty-four years prior. She was by then popularly known as Bolognese

Minerva Minerva (; ; ) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars. Be ...

. On 29 October 1732, the Senate and the University of Bologna granted Bassi's candidature, and in December she was appointed professor of natural philosophy to teach physics. She became the first salaried woman lecturer in the world, thus beginning her academic career. She was also the first woman member of any scientific establishment, when she was elected to the Academy of Sciences of the Institute of Bologna in 1732. Bassi became the most important populariser of

Newtonian mechanics Newton's laws of motion are three physical laws that describe the relationship between the motion of an object and the forces acting on it. These laws, which provide the basis for Newtonian mechanics, can be paraphrased as follows: # A body r ...

in Italy. In 1971, the Hellenist Benedetto Marzullo in company with

Umberto Eco Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian Medieval studies, medievalist, philosopher, Semiotics, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular ...

, Renato Barilli, Adelio Ferrero. instituted within the Faculty of Letters and Arts the DAMS (

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

of ''discipline delle arti, della musica e dello spettacolo'', "Dicipline of

Arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creativity, creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive ...

Music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

s and

Performance A performance is an act or process of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Performance has evolved glo ...

"). It was the first degree course of this type to be opened in Italy. Between December 26, 1982, and November 29, 1983, there occurred the DAMS murders (in

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

: ''Delitti del DAMS''), dealing with four victims who were students or professors of the DAMS: Angelo Fabbri (a brilliant student of

), Liviana Rossi, the dancer Francesca Alinovi (who was stabbed for 47 times), and Leonarda Polvani.

Organization

Higher education processes are being harmonised across the European Community. Nowadays the university offers 101 different "''

Laurea In Italy, the ''laurea'' is the main post-secondary academic degree. The name originally referred literally to the laurel wreath, since ancient times a sign of honor and now worn by Italian students right after their official graduation ceremo ...

''" or "''Laurea breve''" first-level degrees (three years of courses), followed by 108 "''Laurea specialistica''" or "''Laurea magistrale''" second-level degrees (two years). However 11 other courses have maintained the previous rules of "''Laurea specialistica a ciclo unico''" or "''Laurea magistrale a ciclo unico''", with only one cycle of study of five years, except for medicine and dentistry, which require six years of courses. After the "''Laurea''" one may attain first-level Master (one-year diploma, similar to a postgraduate diploma). After second-level degrees are attained, one may proceed to second-level Master, specialisation schools (residency) or research doctorates (PhD). The 11 Schools (which replace the existing 23 faculties) are: * School of Agriculture and

Veterinary Medicine Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, medical diagnosis, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in non-human animals. The scope of veterinary medicine is wide, covering all a ...

* School of Economics, Management and Statistics * School of Engineering and Architecture * School of Foreign Languages and Literature, Interpreting and Translation * School of Law * School of Arts, Humanities, and

Cultural Heritage Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by socie ...

* School of Medicine and Surgery * School of Pharmacy, Biotechnologies and Sport Sciences * School of

Political Sciences 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 ...

* School of Psychology and Education Sciences * School of Sciences The university is structured in 33 departments (66 until 2012), organized by homogeneous research domains that integrate activities related to one or more faculty. A new department of Latin history was added in 2015. The 33 departments are: * Architecture - DA * Cultural Heritage - DBC * Chemistry " Giacomo Ciamician" - CHIM *

Industrial Chemistry The chemical industry comprises the company, companies and other organizations that develop and produce industrial, specialty and other chemicals. Central to the modern world economy, the chemical industry converts raw materials (Petroleum, oil, ...

"Toso Montanari" - CHIMIND * Arts - DARvipem * Pharmacy and Biotechnology - FaBiT *

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

and Italian Studies - FICLIT * Philosophy and

Communication Studies Communication studies (or communication science) is an academic discipline that deals with processes of human communication and behavior, patterns of communication in interpersonal relationships, social interactions and communication in differ ...

- FILCOM * Physics and Astronomy - DIFA * Computer Science and Engineering - DISI * Civil,

Chemical A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combin ...

, Environmental, and

Materials Engineering Materials science is an Interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary field of researching and discovering materials. Materials engineering is an engineering field of finding uses for materials in other fields and industries. The intellectual origi ...

- DICAM *

Electrical Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

, Electronic, and

Information Engineering Information engineering is the engineering discipline that deals with the generation, distribution, analysis, and use of information, data, and knowledge in electrical systems. The field first became identifiable in the early 21st century. Th ...

"Guglielmo Marconi" - DEI *

Industrial Engineering Industrial engineering (IE) is concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of people, materials, information, equipment and energy. It draws upon specialized knowledge and skill in the mathematical, physical, an ...

- DIN *

Interpreting Interpreting is translation from a spoken or signed language into another language, usually in real time to facilitate live communication. It is distinguished from the translation of a written text, which can be more deliberative and make use o ...

and

Translation Translation is the communication of the semantics, meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The English la ...

- DIT * Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures - LILEC * Mathematics - MAT *

Experimental Medicine An experimental drug is a medicinal product (a drug or vaccine) that has not yet received approval from governmental regulatory authorities for routine use in human or veterinary medicine. A medicinal product may be approved for use in one diseas ...

, Diagnostic Medicine and Specialty Medicine - DIMES * Psychology - PSI * Agricultural Sciences - DipSA * Management - DiSA *

Biological Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, and distribution of ...

Geological Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth s ...

, and Environmental Sciences - BiGeA *

Biomedical Biomedicine (also referred to as Western medicine, mainstream medicine or conventional medicine)

and Neuromotor Sciences - DIBINEM * Education Studies "Giovanni Maria Bertin" - EDU *

Agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

and Food Sciences - DISTAL * Economics - DSE * Legal Studies - DSG * Medical and Surgical Sciences - DIMEC * Veterinary Medical Sciences - DIMEVET * Department for Life Quality Studies - QUVI * Political and

Social Sciences Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...

- SPS *

Statistical Science ''Statistical Science'' is a review journal published by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics. The founding editor was Morris H. DeGroot, who explained the mission of the journal in his 1986 editorial: "A central purpose of ''Statistical Sci ...

s "Paolo Fortunati" - STAT *

Sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

and Business Law - SDE * History and Cultures - DiSCi

Affiliates and other institutions

Il Mulino

In the early 1950s, some students of the University of Bologna were among the founders of the review "il Mulino". On 25 April 1951 the first issue of the review was published in Bologna. In a short time, "il Mulino" became one of the most interesting reference points in Italy for the political and cultural debate and established important editorial relationships in Italy and abroad. Editorial activities evolved along with the review. In 1954, the il Mulino publishing house (It. ''Società editrice il Mulino'') was founded, which today represents one of the most relevant Italian publishers. In addition to this were initiated research projects (focusing mostly on the educational institutions and the political system in Italy), that eventually led, in 1964, to the establishment of the Istituto Carlo Cattaneo.

Collegio Superiore

The ''Collegio Superiore'' is an excellence institution inside the University of Bologna, aimed at promoting students' merit through dedicated learning programmes. The institution was founded in 1998 as ''Collegio d'Eccellenza''. Together with the Institute for Advanced Study it is part of the Institute for Higher Study. The Collegio Superiore offers an additional educational path to students enrolled in a degree programme at the University of Bologna, providing specialized courses as part of an interdisciplinary framework. All students of the Collegio Superiore are granted a full-ride scholarship and additional benefits such as the assistance of a personal tutor and free accommodation at the Residence for Higher Study. In order to remain members of the Collegio Superiore students are required to maintain high marks in both their degree programme and the additional courses. Beatrice Fraboni, professor of Physics of Matter, has been head of Collegio Superiore since 2019.

Notable people

Alumni

* Adone Zoli, former Prime Minister of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. * Cardinal Alberto Bolognetti * Pope

Alexander VI Pope Alexander VI (, , ; born Roderic Llançol i de Borja; epithet: ''Valentinus'' ("The Kingdom of Valencia, Valencian"); – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 August 1492 until his death ...

* Álvaro de Figueroa, former Prime Minister of

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. * Anna M. Borghi, Italian cognitive psychologist *

Augusto Righi Augusto Righi (; 27 August 1850 – 8 June 1920) was an Italian physicist who was one of the first scientists to produce microwaves. Biography Born in Bologna, Righi was educated in his home town, taught physics at Bologna Technical College bet ...

, pioneer in the study of

electromagnetism In physics, electromagnetism is an interaction that occurs between particles with electric charge via electromagnetic fields. The electromagnetic force is one of the four fundamental forces of nature. It is the dominant force in the interacti ...

Carlo Goldoni Carlo Osvaldo Goldoni (, also , ; 25 February 1707 – 6 February 1793) was an Italian playwright and librettist from the Republic of Venice. His works include some of Italy's most famous and best-loved plays. Audiences have admired the plays ...

, Italian

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

Carlo Rovelli Carlo Rovelli (born 3 May 1956) is an Italian theoretical physicist and writer who has worked in Italy, the United States, France, and Canada. He is currently Emeritus Professor at the Centre de Physique Theorique of Marseille in France, a Disti ...

, Italian

theoretical physicist Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain, and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experi ...

* Carlo Severini * Saint

Charles Borromeo Charles Borromeo (; ; 2 October 1538 – 3 November 1584) was an Catholic Church in Italy, Italian Catholic prelate who served as Archdiocese of Milan, Archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584. He was made a Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal in 156 ...

archbishop of Milan The Archdiocese of Milan (; ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Italy which covers the areas of Milan, Monza, Lecco and Varese. It has long maintained its own Latin liturgical rite usage, the Amb ...

* Corrado Gini, Italian

statistician A statistician is a person who works with Theory, theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private sector, private and public sectors. It is common to combine statistical knowledge with expertise in other subjects, a ...

, demographer and sociologist who developed the Gini coefficient/ratio. *

Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

, Italian poet, writer and philosopher * Daria de Pretis, Italian jurist, Constitutional Judge of the Constitutional Court of Italy. *

Diego Della Valle Diego Della Valle (born 30 December 1953) is a controversial Italian businessman who is the chairman of Tod's. He is the former owner of ACF Fiorentina which he sold after a criminal conviction for match fixing as part of the '' Calciopoli'' sc ...

, chairman of the Italian leather goods company ''

Tod's Tod's S.p.A. is an Italian fashion house specialized in footwear, apparel, and related accessories headquartered in Marche. It is majority controlled by businessman Diego Della Valle. Founded in 1920 by Filippo Della Valle, a cobbler, it was co ...

'' *

Enzo Ferrari Enzo Anselmo Giuseppe Maria Ferrari (; ; 18 February 1898 – 14 August 1988) was an Italian racing driver and entrepreneur, the founder of Scuderia Ferrari in Grand Prix motor racing, and subsequently of the Ferrari automobile marque. Under h ...

, Italian racing driver, engineer and entrepreneur *

Erasmus of Rotterdam Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and theologian, educationalist, satirist, and p ...

* Fabrizio Zilibotti, Italian economist and Professor of International and Development Economics at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. * Fawziya Abikar Nur, Minister for Health and Social Care -

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

. * Filip Ivanović, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro. *

Gabriele Paleotti Gabriele Paleotti (4 October 1522 – 22 July 1597) was an Italian cardinal and Archbishop of Bologna. He was a significant figure in, and source about, the later sessions of the Council of Trent, and much later a candidate for the papacy in 15 ...

* Gasparo Tagliacozzi, pioneer of plastic and

reconstructive surgery Reconstructive surgery is surgery performed to restore normal appearance and function to body parts malformed by a disease or medical condition. Description Reconstructive surgery is a term with training, clinical, and reimbursement implicat ...

Giacomo Matteotti Giacomo Matteotti (; 22 May 1885 – 10 June 1924) was an Italian socialist politician and secretary of the Unitary Socialist Party (PSU). He was elected deputy of the Chamber of Deputies three times, in 1919, 1921 and in 1924. On 30 May 19 ...

* Giovanni Pascoli *

Pope Gregory XIII Pope Gregory XIII (, , born Ugo Boncompagni; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for commissioning and being the namesake ...

(Ugo Boncompagni); * Pope Gregory XV *

Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro (; 12January 1925) was an Italian mathematician. He is most famous as the discoverer of tensor calculus. With his former student Tullio Levi-Civita, he wrote his most famous single publication, a pioneering work on the ...

, Italian mathematician and the inventor of

tensor calculus In mathematics, a tensor is an algebraic object that describes a multilinear relationship between sets of algebraic objects associated with a vector space. Tensors may map between different objects such as vectors, scalars, and even other ...

. *

Guglielmo Marconi Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi, 1st Marquess of Marconi ( ; ; 25 April 1874 – 20 July 1937) was an Italian electrical engineer, inventor, and politician known for his creation of a practical radio wave-based Wireless telegraphy, wireless tel ...

, Italian inventor and radio pioneer * Henry of Susa (Hostiensis); * Pope Innocent IX *

Irnerius Irnerius ( – after 1125), sometimes referred to as ''lucerna juris'' ("lantern of the law"), was an Italian jurist, and founder of the School of Glossators and thus of the tradition of medieval Roman Law. He taught the newly recovered Roman ...

, founder of the School of Glossators * Joaquín Chapaprieta, former Prime Minister of

. * Juan Fernando López Aguilar, former

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

. * Julius Caesar Aranzi, the pioneer human anatomists and surgeons. *

, the world's first woman to earn a university chair in a scientific field of studies *

Lazzaro Spallanzani Lazzaro Spallanzani (; 12 January 1729 – 11 February 1799) was an Italian Catholic priest (for which he was nicknamed Abbé Spallanzani), biologist and physiologist who made important contributions to the experimental study of bodily function ...

, Italian priest, biologist and physiologist *

Leon Battista Alberti Leon Battista Alberti (; 14 February 1404 – 25 April 1472) was an Italian Renaissance humanist author, artist, architect, poet, Catholic priest, priest, linguistics, linguist, philosopher, and cryptography, cryptographer; he epitomised the natu ...

; *

Luigi Galvani Luigi Galvani ( , , ; ; 9 September 1737 – 4 December 1798) was an Italian physician, physicist, biologist and philosopher who studied animal electricity. In 1780, using a frog, he discovered that the muscles of dead frogs' legs twitched when ...

; * Manuel Olivencia, lawyer and academic; * Mauro Moretti, former CEO and general manager of Leonardo S.p.A. *

Marcello Malpighi Marcello Malpighi (10 March 1628 – 30 November 1694) was an Italians, Italian biologist and physician, who is referred to as the "founder of microscopical anatomy, histology and father of physiology and embryology". Malpighi's name is borne by ...

; *

Michelangelo Antonioni Michelangelo Antonioni ( ; ; 29 September 1912 – 30 July 2007) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and editor. He is best known for his "trilogy on modernity and its discontents", ''L'Avventura'' (1960), ''La Notte'' (1961), and '' ...

; *

Nicolaus Copernicus Nicolaus Copernicus (19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance polymath who formulated a mathematical model, model of Celestial spheres#Renaissance, the universe that placed heliocentrism, the Sun rather than Earth at its cen ...

, formulator of the heliocentric universal model; * Cardinal

Paolo Burali d'Arezzo Paolo Burali d'Arezzo (1511 – 17 June 1578) was an Italian priest of the Theatine Order, a bishop, and Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. His legal skills made him a prominent figure in the law courts of Naples, and ...

; *

Paracelsus Paracelsus (; ; 1493 – 24 September 1541), born Theophrastus von Hohenheim (full name Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim), was a Swiss physician, alchemist, lay theologian, and philosopher of the German Renaissance. H ...

, founder of the discipline of

toxicology Toxicology is a scientific discipline, overlapping with biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine, that involves the study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organisms and the practice of diagnosing and treating ex ...

; * Patrizio Bianchi, Minister of Public Education in the Draghi Cabinet *

Petrarch Francis Petrarch (; 20 July 1304 – 19 July 1374; ; modern ), born Francesco di Petracco, was a scholar from Arezzo and poet of the early Italian Renaissance, as well as one of the earliest Renaissance humanism, humanists. Petrarch's redis ...

; *

Pico della Mirandola Giovanni Pico dei conti della Mirandola e della Concordia ( ; ; ; 24 February 146317 November 1494), known as Pico della Mirandola, was an Italian Renaissance nobleman and philosopher. He is famed for the events of 1486, when, at the age of 23, ...

; * Pier Luigi Nervi, Italian Structural engineer and architect of UNESCO Headquarters Paris (1950). *

Pier Paolo Pasolini Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, film director, writer, actor and playwright. He is considered one of the defining public intellectuals in 20th-century Italian history, influential both as an artist ...

; *

Pierluigi Collina Pierluigi Collina (; born 13 February 1960) is an Italian former football referee. He was named "The World's Best Referee" by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics six consecutive times from 1998 to 2003. Collina is sti ...

, Chairman of the

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

referees committee * Piero Gnudi, Minister of Tourism and Sports in the Monti cabinet. *

Pietro Mengoli Pietro Mengoli (1626, Bologna – June 7, 1686, Bologna) was an Italian mathematician and clergyman from Bologna, where he studied with Bonaventura Cavalieri at the University of Bologna, and succeeded him in 1647. He remained as professor there ...

; * Remo Gaspari, Minister of Relationships with the Parliament and Minister of Public Function in the Bettino Craxi and

Giulio Andreotti Giulio Andreotti ( ; ; 14 January 1919 – 6 May 2013) was an Italian politician and wikt:statesman, statesman who served as the 41st prime minister of Italy in seven governments (1972–1973, 1976–1979, and 1989–1992), and was leader of th ...

Cabinet. * Stefano Domenicali, CEO of

Formula One Group The Formula One Group is a group of companies responsible for the Promotion (marketing), promotion of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA Formula One World Championship, and the exercising of the sport's commercial rights. The ...

, former CEO of Italian sports car manufacturer Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. and Team Principal of

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

team

Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari (; ), currently racing under Scuderia Ferrari HP, is the racing division of luxury Italian auto manufacturer Ferrari and the racing team that competes in Formula One racing. The team is also known by the nickname "the Pranc ...

. * Archbishop

Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then as Archbishop of Canterbury fr ...

; * Tommaso Perelli, Italian astronomer *

Torquato Tasso Torquato Tasso ( , also , ; 11 March 154425 April 1595) was an Italian poet of the 16th century, known for his 1591 poem ''Gerusalemme liberata'' (Jerusalem Delivered), in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between ...

; *

Ulisse Aldrovandi Ulisse Aldrovandi (11 September 1522 – 4 May 1605) was an Italian naturalist, the moving force behind Bologna's botanical garden, one of the first in Europe. Carl Linnaeus and the comte de Buffon reckoned him the father of natural history stud ...

; *

, Italian semiotician, philosopher and writer * Mihalj Šilobod Bolšić (1724–1787),

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

priest, mathematician, writer, and musical theorist primarily known for writing the first Croatian arithmetic textbook ''Arithmatika Horvatzka'' (published in Zagreb, 1758) * Bruno D'Amore, mathematician

Faculty and staff

Notable former faculty include: * 11th century **

* 12th century ** Bulgarus **

Gratian Gratian (; ; 18 April 359 – 25 August 383) was emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 367 to 383. The eldest son of Valentinian I, Gratian was raised to the rank of ''Augustus'' as a child and inherited the West after his father's death in ...

** Martinus Gosia ** Patriarch Heraclius of Jerusalem **

William of Tyre William of Tyre (; 29 September 1186) was a Middle Ages, medieval prelate and chronicler. As Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tyre, archbishop of Tyre, he is sometimes known as William II to distinguish him from his predecessor, William I of Tyr ...

* 13th century ** Benvenutus Scotivoli **

** Guido Guinizelli ** Henry of Susa (''Hostiensis'') **

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

, Dominican martyr **

Sylvester Gozzolini Silvestro Guzzolini (1177 – 26 November 1267) was an Italian Catholic Church, Catholic Priesthood in the Catholic Church, priest and the founder of the Sylvestrines, Silvestrini. He served as a Canon (priest), canon in Osimo but respectful re ...

** William of Saliceto * 14th century **

Manuel Chrysoloras Manuel (or Emmanuel) Chrysoloras (; c. 1350 – 15 April 1415) was a Byzantine Greeks, Byzantine Greek classical scholar, Renaissance humanist, humanist, philosopher, professor, and translator of ancient Greek texts during the Renaissance. Serv ...

** Giovanni de' Marignolli ** Francesco Petrarca (also known as ''Petrarch'') **

Coluccio Salutati Coluccio Salutati (16 February 1331 – 4 May 1406) was an Italian Renaissance humanist and notary, and one of the most important political and cultural leaders of Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history ...

* 15th century **

** Lippo Bartolomeo Dardi ** Yuriy Drohobych (also known as ''Georgius de Drohobycz'') **

Giovanni Pico della Mirandola Giovanni Pico dei conti della Mirandola e della Concordia ( ; ; ; 24 February 146317 November 1494), known as Pico della Mirandola, was an Italian Renaissance nobleman and philosopher. He is famed for the events of 1486, when, at the age of 23, ...

* 16th century **

** Giovanni Antonio Magini ** Camillo Baldi **

Girolamo Cardano Gerolamo Cardano (; also Girolamo or Geronimo; ; ; 24 September 1501– 21 September 1576) was an Italian polymath whose interests and proficiencies ranged through those of mathematician, physician, biologist, physicist, chemist, astrologer, a ...

** Ignazio Danti **

Giovanni Della Casa Giovanni della Casa (28 June 1503 – 14 November 1556) was an Italian poet, diplomat, clergyman and inquisitor, and writer on etiquette and society. He is celebrated for his famous treatise on polite behavior, ''Il Galateo, Il Galateo overo de� ...

** Girolamo Maggi ** Virgilio Malvezzi **

* 17th century **

Giovanni Cassini Giovanni Domenico Cassini (8 June 1625 – 14 September 1712) was an Italian-French mathematician, astronomer, astrologer and engineer. Cassini was born in Perinaldo, near Imperia, at that time in the County of Nice, part of the Savoyard sta ...

Bonaventura Cavalieri Bonaventura Francesco Cavalieri (; 1598 – 30 November 1647) was an Italian mathematician and a Jesuati, Jesuate. He is known for his work on the problems of optics and motion (physics), motion, work on indivisibles, the precursors of infin ...

** Niall Ó Glacáin **

** Lodovico Scapinelli * 18th century **

Maria Gaetana Agnesi Maria Gaetana Agnesi (16 May 1718 – 9 January 1799) was an Italians, Italian mathematician, philosopher, Theology, theologian, and humanitarianism, humanitarian. She was the first woman to write a mathematics handbook and the list of women in ...

* 19th century **

** Giacomo Ciamician ** Giosuè Carducci ** Giovanni Pascoli **

Pellegrino Rossi Pellegrino Luigi Odoardo Rossi (13 July 1787 – 15 November 1848) was an Italian economist, politician and jurist. He was an important figure of the July Monarchy in France, and the minister of justice in the government of the Papal States, unde ...

Francesco Selmi Francesco Selmi (7 April 1817 – 13 August 1881) was an Italian chemist and patriot, one of the founders of colloid chemistry. Selmi was born in Vignola, then part of the Duchy of Modena and Reggio. He became head of a chemistry laborator ...

* 20th century **

** Beppo Levi **

** Maria Matilde Principi **

Romano Prodi Romano Prodi (; born 9 August 1939) is an Italian politician who served as President of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004 and twice as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1996 to 1998, and again from 2006 to 2008. Prodi is considered the fo ...

* 21st century ** Hamida Barmaki ** Özalp Babaoğlu ** Gabriella Campadelli-Fiume ** Pier Cesare Bori **

Augusto Barbera Augusto Antonio Barbera (born 25 June 1938) is an Italian judge and former constitutional law professor at the University of Bologna. In his political career he was member of the Chamber of Deputies (Italy), Chamber of Deputies between 1976 and 19 ...

** Gualtiero Calboli ** Ivano Dionigi **

Luciano Floridi Luciano Floridi (; born 16 November 1964) is an Italian and British philosopher. He is the director of the Digital Ethics Center at Yale University. He is also a Professor of Sociology of Culture and Communication at the University of Bologna ...

Rankings and reputation

The 2024

QS World University Rankings The ''QS World University Rankings'' is a portfolio of comparative college and university rankings compiled by Quacquarelli Symonds, a higher education analytics firm. Its first and earliest edition was published in collaboration with '' Times ...

ranked the University of Bologna 154th in the world as well as 73rd (1st in Italy, 18th in Europe) with specific reference to academic reputation. In another measurement by the same organization, it was positioned among the world's top 100 universities for graduate employability. In the 2024

Times Higher Education World University Rankings The ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'', often referred to as the THE Rankings, is the annual publication of university rankings by the ''Times Higher Education'' magazine. The publisher had collaborated with Quacquarelli Symon ...

, it claimed the 155th place globally. In the 2023 THE Impact Rankings, which measure the universities' commitment to sustainable development in compliance with the UN 2030 Agenda, Bologna took 5th place in Europe and 23rd in the world. Furthermore, Bologna topped Italy's 2023 list of large public universities (> 40,000 students), produced by the Italian Center for Social Investment Studies, for the 14th year in a row.

Points of interest

* Orto Botanico dell'Università di Bologna *

References

External links

* *
Scholars and Literati at the University of Bologna (1088–1800)
i
Repertorium Eruditorum Totius Europae/RETE
{{DEFAULTSORT:University Of Bologna Universities in Italy 1088 establishments in Europe 11th-century establishments in Italy Buildings and structures in Bologna Education in Bologna Bologna, University of Medical schools in Italy Medieval European universities