Team

  Eleonora Angella

I am currently a Research Fellow in Contemporary History at the University for Foreigners of Siena. After completing my PhD in International Studies at the University of Naples "L'Orientale", I held a Postdoctoral Fellowship funded by the Swiss Confederation (ESKAS) at the University of Bern, followed by a research fellowship at the University of Tuscia (Viterbo). My doctoral and postdoctoral research focused on the history of the Italian community in Cairo during the late nineteenth century, with a specific emphasis on the impact of capitulatory extraterritoriality on the lives of Italian subjects in Egypt. I am the author of the monograph Italiani al Cairo. Consoli, giurisdizione e società 1861-1911 (Palermo: New Digital Frontiers, 2023/2024). As part of the project "Quistioni d'onore" (Matters of Honor), my current research investigates the Florentine bibliophile Giorgio Enrico Levi (Alexandria, Egypt, 1849 – Reggello, 1936), who curated an invaluable library of texts dedicated to the history and practice of dueling.

   Simone Casini

I am a Professor of Italian Literature at the University of Perugia. My research focuses on literature and history from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. I am a member of the commission for the National Edition of the Works of Ippolito Nievo and I coordinate the edition of the Works of Alberto Moravia published by Bompiani. My recent publications include Pascoli georgico (2018), L’uomo come fine di Moravia (2019), and the edition of Moravia’s Romanzi e racconti 1970-1979 (2020). I have also edited  Umberto Morra di Lavriano e la cultura letteraria del Novecento (2021, proceedings), Maria Gaetana Agnesi e l’Illuminismo: A proposito di alcune recenti ipotesi critiche (2022), and Radici aeree: Studi, testimonianze e riflessioni su Clara Sereni (2023, proceedings). Within the framework of the PRIN project "Quistioni d'onore" (Matters of Honor), my research focuses on nineteenth-century narrative.

  Laura Diafani

My research focuses on Italian Literature, with a particular emphasis on Giacomo Leopardi, Alessandro Manzoni, and other civic-minded writers of the early nineteenth century, the twentieth century, and the early modern period. My primary research interests lie in the public and political use of autobiographical writing, epistolography, and fairy-tale narratives. I have edited critical editions (Manzoni, Palazzeschi) and published monographs (Leopardi, Carlo Bini), as well as numerous essays and anthologies. Having served for many years as a teacher of Italian Literature and Latin in secondary education (Liceo), I am currently a Professor of Italian Literature and Contemporary Italian Literature at the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio. As part of the project "Questioni d'onore: immaginario, rappresentazione e realtà del duello nella cultura italiana dal Risorgimento al fascismo". I am responsible for curating the "Percorsi tematici" (Thematic Paths) section.

  Alessandro Faccioli 

I am a Professor of History and Film Criticism and Film Genres: Theory and Form at the University of Padua, where I serve as the Chair of the DAMS degree program (Disciplines of Arts, Music, and Performing Arts) and Director of the Laboratory of Entertainment Economics. My recent research focuses on the representation of the Great War in Italian cinema and the portrayal of mountain landscapes in international silent film. My latest edited volume, co-authored with Daniele Dottorini and Emanuele Leonardi, is titled Visioni, Alfabeti, Mondi. Borges e le immagini (ETS, Pisa). I am currently working on the second volume of the series Visioni della Grande Guerra (Kaplan, Turin).

   Irene Gambacorti

I am a Professor of Italian Literature at the University of Florence. My research focuses on 19th and 20th-century narrative, drama, and poetry, and I have published numerous monographs and essays in these fields. My philological work includes scholarly editions of correspondence—notably for the National Edition of Alessandro Manzoni’s works—as well as comprehensive bibliographies (e.g., Luciano Bianciardi). Beyond textual analysis and interpretation, my research explores the interdisciplinary intersections between literature and the visual and performing arts (theatre, figurative arts, photography, and cinema). I have specifically examined the contributions of prominent authors, such as Verga, Gozzano, and D’Annunzio, to the era of silent film. A further primary research strand involves the relationship between literature and history during the Risorgimento and post-unification Italy. Within this framework, I co-directed the interdisciplinary project Scontri di carta e di spada (Clashes of Paper and Sword: The Duel in United Italy between History and Literature) from 2017 to 2019 alongside Gabriele Paolini. I currently lead an exceptional research team for the project "Questioni d’onore" (Question of Honor), where my specific focus lies in the literary representation of dueling and the evolution of the concept of honor during the early 20th century and the Fascist Ventennio. In my spare time, I am a practitioner of fencing. 

  Luca Mazzei

I hold the chair of Film History, Film History and Criticism, and Film Analysis at the University of Rome "Tor Vergata." My primary research focuses on the History of Italian Cinema, characterized by a methodological approach that seeks the mutual enhancement of filmic and archival sources. I maintain a strong research interest in non-fiction cinema and the relationship between the Italian landscape and national cinematography. In recent years, this work has resulted in numerous publications, the curation of themed dossiers, and contributions to international conferences, with a specific focus on early Italian documentary war films and Italian travel cinema. As part of the "Questioni d’onore" project, I am conducting filmographic research aimed at compiling an initial repertoire of visual occurrences of the duel in early Italian cinema. This study encompasses national production from the silent era through the 1930s, across both fiction and non-fiction genres.

  Stefano Miani

I hold a PhD in Philology, Italian Literature, and Linguistics (with a specialization in Linguistics) from the University of Florence, where I defended a dissertation entitled "The Formation of Italian Psychoanalytic Lexis." My research interests focus on LSP (Languages for Specific Purposes), specialized terminologies, and the use of language as a tool for discrimination. Currently, I am a Research Fellow for the PRIN 2022 project "Questioni d'onore". In this capacity, I am responsible for the terminological analysis of archival materials and core texts, aimed at developing a lexical collection covering the semantic field of honor and the ritual practices of duelling.

   Gabriele Paolini

I am an Associate Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Florence, where I teach within the undergraduate and graduate programs of the "Cesare Alfieri" School of Political Sciences. I am a member of the Doctoral Committee (Faculty Board) for the PhD in Historical Studies, a joint program between the Universities of Florence and Siena. Additionally, I serve on the Board of Directors of the Fondazione Spadolini Nuova Antologia and on the Scientific Committee of the Centro di Studi della Civiltà Toscana fra '800 e '900. My primary research areas include nineteenth-century history, Church-State relations, political representation, the First World War, and the history of journalism and communication. As part of the PRIN 2022 project, "Questioni di onore" I am a member of the research unit based at the University for Foreigners of Siena. My work within the project focuses on the historical reconstruction of duelling phenomena, with particular emphasis on their political and journalistic dimensions.

  Raffaella Setti

I am a Professor of Italian Linguistics at the University of Florence. I have published numerous articles and volumes on subjects ranging from media linguistics to seventeenth-century terminology of arts and trades, with in-depth studies on linguists and academics such as Benedetto Varchi and Galileo. In recent years, my research has also expanded to include Italian grammar, language education, and lexical competence. I collaborate with the Accademia della Crusca, where I regularly contribute to the Linguistic Consultancy Service and serve as the Editorial Coordinator of the journal «La Crusca per voi». My contribution to this project focuses on the linguistic dimension, specifically the identification of the lexis and phraseology of honor in its various manifestations. The objective is to compile a glossary that collects and compares specific terms related to chivalry and the rituals of duelling. This will facilitate synchronic and diachronic comparisons with definitions and examples found in historical dictionaries, the linguistic reflections of the authors under study, and any lexicons or glossaries that may be incorporated during the course of the research.