«Una grazia lieve ed alta che diresti pudica». Gli elzeviri del professor Manara Valgimigli

Abstract

This article explores the figure of the Greek scholar Manara Valgimigli (1876-1965), professor at the University of Padua in the first half of the twentieth century. Later, in his later years, he devoted himself to writing “third page” essays: dozens and dozens of editorials were published in numerous newspapers and periodicals. Beginning in the 1940s, he began to organize his many “pieces” into collections of editorials, published by Le Tre Venezie, Cappelli, and Mondadori, which enjoyed considerable public success. Through this writing, Valgimigli perfectly embodied the figure of the excellent professor who became an excellent writer, and he pursued both activities (the erudite Greek scholar and the memoir-filled, melancholic editorial writer) with identical passion and similar high-quality results. Today, some of his collections of editorials have been reprinted in critical editions, which have confirmed the high quality of the professor-writer’s prose.