Giovanni Cecchetti

Background

Giovanni Cecchetti was born on July 12, 1922, in Pescia, Italy. He was the son of Agostino and Adorna (Fattorini) Cecchetti. He came to the United States in 1948 and was naturalized in 1954.

Education

Giovanni graduated from Maturità classica, Florence, Italy, in 1941. He received Doctor of Letters from the University of Florence in 1947.

Career

Giovanni Cecchetti began his career in 1948 teaching at the University of California at Berkeley. He also taught at Tulane University in New Orleans and Stanford. In 1969 he came to teach at the University of California at Los Angeles, where he taught for 29 years. Chair of the Italian Department from 1969 to 1977, Cecchetti specialized in the study of Dante as well as nineteenth- and twentieth-century Italian literature. He also was distinguished visiting international lecturer and professor at Wake Forest University, the University of Michigan, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of Connecticut.

In 1967, Cecchetti wrote his first volume of poetry Diario Nomade. He also was translator and author of introduction to Verga, Mastrodon Gesualdo: A Novel (1979) and Operette Morali: Essays and Dialogues (1982). He edited Giacomo Leopardi in 1990 and was the author of preface to Women in Modern Italian Literature by Bruce Merry. Giovanni was also a frequent contributor of essays and poems to periodicals in the United States and Europe.

Achievements

• Giovanni Cecchetti is best remembered as one of the pioneers of Italian culture in the United States. He was an able administrator and organizer, who established new programs in Italian Studies and restructure old ones in various parts of the United States – from Berkeley to Tulane, then in California, Stanford, and finally the University of California.

Works

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• book

  • Operette Morali

    (This series is conceived as a library of bilingual editio...)

    1983
  • The She-Wolf and Other Stories

    (The She-Wolf The villagers have given Giuseppina the nick...)

    1982
  • Approaches to Teaching Dante's Divine Comedy 1982
  • Danza nel deserto 1985
  • Impossibile scendere 1978
  • Nel Cammino dei Monti. 1980
  • Giacomo Leopardi Proceedings of the Cong 1990
  • Leopardi e Verga 1962
  • Il Verga Maggiore Sette Studi 1968
  • La Poesia del Pascoli 1954

Membership

Giovanni was a member of Modern Language Association of America, American Association of Teachers of Italian, American Association for Italian Studies, Dante Society of America, Leonardo Da Vinci Society.

Connections

Giovanni married Ruth Elizabeth Schwabacher on December 27, 1953. They had two children: Stephen G. and Margaret F.

Father:

Agostino Cecchetti

Mother:

Adorna (Fattorini) Cecchetti

Spouse:

Ruth Elizabeth (Schwabacher) Cecchetti

Son:

Stephen G. Cecchetti

Daughter:

Margaret F. Cecchetti

References

• Contemporary Authors A Bio-Bibliographical Guide to Current Writers in Fiction, General Non-Fiction, Poetry, Journalism, Drama, Motion Pictures, Television, and Other Fields
  2008