Santi Muratori (Ravenna 1874 – 1943) was a librarian, specializing in the local history of Ravenna, which brought him to epigraphy, numismatics, and art history. He graduated at the University of Bologna under the supervision of Giosuè Carducci in 1897. After having taught at several high schools (including the ginnasio of his hometown, 1898–1910) and having directed the Museo Civico of Ravenna (1908–1910), Muratori was appointed director of the Biblioteca Classense in Ravenna in 1913, a position which he held until his death. In 1924, he abandoned his teaching activities altogether in order to devote all this time and energy to the library. Under his direction, the Biblioteca Classense was modernized and expanded significantly with numerous new collections. He also compiled the ‘Catalogo Muratori’, still used by researchers of the history of Ravenna and the region. Moreover, Muratori published extensively on the history of Ravenna and its monuments, as well as on Dante Alighieri who died in Ravenna in 1321. He fostered a close friendship with Corrado Ricci with whom he shared a profound interest in their hometown; thanks to Muratori’s intervention, Ricci’s personal library was incorporated into the Biblioteca Classense at his death in 1934.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Muratori, Santi. 1907. I tempi, la vita e l’opera letteraria di Jacopo Landoni: 1772-1855. Ravenna: Tipografia sociale G. Mazzini.

———. 1935. Corrado Ricci. La vita e le opere. Ravenna: Società tipo-editrice e mutilati.

Secondary sources

De Gregori, Giorgio, and Simonetta Buttò. 1999. Per una storia dei bibliotecari italiani del XX secolo. Dizionario bio-bibliografico 1900-1990. Rome: Associazione italiana biblioteche.

Fava, Domenico. 1943. ‘Santi Muratori’. Atti e memorie. Deputazione di storia patria per le provincie di Romagna 9: 195–99.

Antonino Nastasi