Giuseppe Albini (Bologna 1862 – Bologna 1933) was a classical philologist, specializing in Latin literature, as well as a poet in both Latin and Italian. Albini studied at the University of Bologna, obtaining a Degree in Law (giurisprudenza) in 1884 and in Letters (Lettere) in 1885. Among his teachers were Giosuè Carducci (1835–1907), at that time Italy’s most prominent national poet, and the Latinist and Latin writer Giovanni Battista Gandino (1827–1905). Carducci exerted a lasting influence on Albini’s scholarly work and poetry (Funaioli 1935 and Traina 1991). Albini took up a position at the University of Bologna in 1898, succeeding Giovanni Pascoli (1855–1912) as teacher of Greek and Latin grammar. In 1905, he succeeded Gandino as Professor of Latin literature at the same university. At the University of Bologna, Albini also served as Dean (preside) of the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy (1912–1918) and as Rector of the University (1927–1930). Albini was active in politics as well. He was city councillor (consigliere comunale) in Bologna twice (1906–1908; 1920–1923) and in 1924, he became Senator of the Italian Kingdom. In 1925, Albini became member of the Fascist Party (for Albini’s biography, see Funaioli 1935).

Albini’s main scholarly interest was Vergil. He translated all of his poetic works (Albini 1922; Albini 1925; Albini 1926) and wrote many articles on them (Traina 1991: 325–327). Albini also published a commentary on Persius (Albini 1890) and wrote essays on humanist Latin poetry (Terzaghi 1960). Albini was a prolific author of Latin poetry. He participated several times in the Certamen Hoeufftianum, winning one gold medal (in 1919, with the poem Vercingetorix), and obtaining five times the magna laus (see van Binnebeke 2020: 249n20). For a bibliography of his scholarly production and Latin works, see Traina (1991: 328–343).

Bibliography

Latin texts

Albini, Giuseppe. 1911. Romae matri. Bologna: A. Gherardi.

———. 1923. Romae matri. Milano: Imperia.

———. 1961. Carmina: edidit Ioannes Baptista Pighi. Edited by Giovanni Battista Pighi. Bologna: Istituto per la storia della Università.

———. 1988. Carmina inedita. a cura di Alfonso Traina. Edited by Alfonso Traina. Bologna: CLUEB.

Other works of the author

Albini, Giuseppe. 1890. Le satire di A. Persio Flacco, commentate da Giuseppe Albini. Imola: Galeati.

———. 1922. L’Eneide. Traduzione di Giuseppe Albini. Bologna: Zanichelli.

———. 1925. Le Georgiche. Tradotte da Giuseppe Albini. Bologna: Zanichelli.

———. 1926. Le Bucoliche. Tradotte da Giuseppe Albini. Bologna: Zanichelli.

Secondary sources

Binnebeke, Xavier van. 2020. “Hoeufft’s Legacy: Neo-Latin Poetry in the Archive of the Certamen Poeticum Hoeufftianum (1923–1943).” In Studies in the Latin Literature and Epigraphy of Italian Fascism, edited by Han Lamers, Bettina Reitz-Joosse, and Valerio Sanzotta, 245–325. Supplementa Humanistica Lovaniensia 46. Leuven: Leuven University Press.

Funaioli, Gino. 1935. “Giuseppe Albini.” Annuario della Regia Università di Bologna, 55–79.

Sacré, Dirk. 2020. “Die neulateinische Literatur in Mussolinis Italien.” In Studies in the Latin Literature and Epigraphy of Italian Fascism, edited by Han Lamers, Bettina Reitz-Joosse, and Valerio Sanzotta, 13–50. Supplementa Humanistica Lovaniensia 46. Leuven: Leuven University Press.

Sorbelli, Tommaso. 1922. “La nuova poesia latina in Italia.” In Lyricorum liber Alphonsi Mariae Casoli e S. I. Mutinensis. Novissimi poetae Latini Thoma Sorbelli curante 1. Modena: Vincenzi e Nipoti di D. Cavallotti.

Terzaghi, Nicola. 1960. “Albini, Giuseppe.” In Dizionario biografico degli italiani. Vol. 2. Rome: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana.

 Traina, Alfonso. 1991. “Giuseppe Albini latinista.” Eikasmós. Quaderni bolognesi di filologia classica 2: 321–43.

Nicolò Bettegazzi