Margherita Nicosia Margani (1900–1971) was a classicist, Etruscologist, and teacher, born in Castellamonte (Turin) and trained at the University of Turin, from which she graduated in 1921. Between her graduation and her retirement in 1968, she taught classics at various secondary schools in Turin (1921–1922), Orvieto (1922–1924), Noto (1923–1931), Comiso (1931–1956), and Ragusa (1956–1968), where she was headmistress (Depetro 2003; Garofalo Luculano 1980; Istituto statale 2003). Her Latin production is confined to the ventennio fascista (Depetro 2003: 13–33; Sacré 2018; Sacré 2019) and consists of novellas in which daily life and motherhood play an important role (Nicosia Margani 1938; Nicosia Margani 1939; Nicosia Margani 1941; Nicosia Margani 1942). Several of her compositions received honorable mentions at the national competitions of Latin prose, organized by the Istituto di Studi Romani, and she won the competition in 1941 (Sacré 2018: 9; Sacré 2019: 6). Nicosia Margani’s novella Dux is the only Latin work in which she explicitly, and uncritically, engaged with Fascism (Sacré 2018: 9). In addition to her Latin work, Nicosia Margani also published several novellas in Italian and authored a novel and a play that remain, however, unpublished (Depetro 2003: 34–66). Her scholarly work covers a range of subjects from the myth of Orpheus (Nicosia Margani 1927) to Etruscan inscriptions (Nicosia Margani 1951). After the demise of Fascism, she was active in local politics for the Christian Democrats at Comiso.

Bibliography

Latin texts

Nicosia Margani, Margherita. 1938. Dux. Comiso: La Montanina.

———. 1939. Mater. Comiso: La Montanina. Reprinted in Depetro (2003: 69–74) and Sacré (2018: 6–8).

———. 1941. Agreste otium. Comiso: La Montanina. Reprinted in Sacré (2019: 5–6).

———. 1942. Triste somnium. Ragusa: Fratres Puglisi et Soc. Reprinted in Sacré (2019: 4–5).

Other work (selection)

Nicosia Margani, Margherita. 1927. Il mito di Edipo: dalle sue origini fino allo scorcio del secolo 5. av. C. Syracuse: Santoro.

———. 1951. Sprazzi di luce sulla lingua etrusca. Testo, analisi ed interpretazione di circa 600 iscrizioni etrusche e glossario. Comiso: Tipografia Moderna.

Secondary sources

Distefano, Giovanni, Letizia Lanza, and Daniela Zamburlin, eds. 2019. Donne a Ragusa. Venice: Supernova.

Depetro, Carmelo. 2003. Margherita Nicosia Margani: scrittrice latina ed italiana. Ragusa: Associazione teatro club Salvy d’Albergo.

Garofalo Luculano, Evelina. [1980?]. Margherita Margani Nicosia: vittima e protagonista del suo tempo. Ragusa: Tipografia Leggio e Diquattro.

Istituto statale di istruzione secondaria superiore Giosuè Carducci, ed. 2003. Il Ginnasio superiore di Comiso, 1902–2002: storia di un istituto nella storia d’Italia. Comiso: Istituto statale di istruzione secondaria superiore Giosuè Carducci.

Sacré, Dirk. 2018. ‘Mater, sive Margaritae Nicosia Margani narratio (1939)’. Melissa 207: 6–9.

———. 2019. ‘Ab oblivione vindicentur ... Margaritae Nicosia Margani (1900–1971) narrationes duae’. Melissa 208: 4–8.

Han Lamers