Gruppo dei Romanisti

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The Gruppo dei Romanisti ( German group of “Romanists” ), founded in 1929 , is an association under private law with the intention of “ taking into account the preservation and upgrading of cultural assets, the environment and the future of Rome regardless of any political requirements to contribute to their traditions and historical functions ”.

The group formed after the First World War until the late 1930s, initially as a spontaneous circle of scholars, academics and lovers of the city of Rome. Since 1940 the group has published the volume Strenna dei Romanisti annually , which contains articles and essays on Roman topics, which is traditionally presented to the Mayor of Rome on April 21 , the anniversary of the founding of Rome (“ Natale di Roma ”).

history

From the Romani della Cisterna to the Gruppo dei Romanisti

During the 1920s, some admirers of Rome met regularly in a trattoria in Trastevere called Osteria della Cisterna , where the association of "Amici delle Cisterna" had already formed, which they followed. The group was made up of men who appreciated the traditions and the Roman dialect and worked in the fields of journalism, theater, literature and the arts.

This type of spontaneous association emerged around common interests - but without being institutional - and had a long history that emerged in the 19th century thanks to the large number of new cafes. One example is the “Babbioni” association, which was founded at the end of the 18th century by the mathematician Luigi Pessuti and which until the middle of the 19th century formed one of the best-known and most recognized scientific circles, which in the age of restoration could have up to 40 members the majority of whom were writers, doctors and physicists. More recently, the “Società della pippa” was created around 1920 on the initiative of the painter Orazio Amato , composed mainly of artists in which later Romanists such as Trilussa and Jandolo were involved.

In May 1929, Ceccarius (Giuseppe Ceccarelli), Vitaliano Rotellini, Franco Liberati, Augusto Jandolo , Trilussa (Carlo Alberto Salustri), Ettore Petrolini , Ignazio Mascalchi and Ettore Veo decided to found a group that, after several meetings in the antiques gallery of Jandolo and the prince don Francesco Ruspoli formed the nucleus and should officially give himself the name I Romani della Cisterna in the assembly of June 8, 1929 . At the express request of the founders, the association remained without rules, even if a small group (Jandolo, Liberati, and Veo) coordinated the initiatives and accepted new members. Very soon figures were taken from the local government, such as Giuseppe Bottai , Governor of Rome in the years 1935 - 1936 were, in a period in which large urban building sites created or adopted; Antonio Muñoz , Inspector General of Fine Arts of the Governorate of Rome from 1928 to 1944 , or Aroldo Coggiati, Councilor of Trastevere . The local press reported regularly on the meetings, which were held on a weekly basis, whether in the cisterna or in other public places. One of the association's main constant interests has been the knowledge and transmission of the Roman dialect.

In 1936 , the death of the energetic Petrolini changed the physiognomy of the group, which now regularly gathered in Via Margutta in the studio of the antiquarian Jandolo, but without giving up the cisterna or the other osterias for the joint dinners. During this period, the term Romanisti began to gain acceptance , which Marcello Piermattei preferred to other definitions, such as Romani col botto (Pietrolini) or Romanifili (Giorgio Pasquali), with the clarification that there should be no confusion with terms related to Romance philology , Roman law or Roman football, but that this term should primarily denote the passionate admirers of Rome under all aspects close to those of the Romani della Cisterna . From the union of the Romani della Cisterna and the Romanisti, the group of Romanists emerged in 1938 .

The beginnings of the Gruppo dei Romanisti

In 1939 , although not yet officially institutionalized, the group had about forty members, including a woman (Emma Amadei), united around three personalities who guaranteed continuity: Augusto Jandolo, Giuseppe Ceccarelli (Ceccarius) and Enrico Tadolini. All of them were of Italian descent, mostly Roman, but the presence of foreigners was not ruled out a priori, which could only be realized after the war. The meetings remained weekly, but the cisterna was no longer the main meeting point for the group: in summer the Romanists met in the trattorias of Piazza S. Maria in Trastevere or Piazza Navona . The antique gallery in Jandolo, at number 53 on Via Margutta, was a constant reference point.

The first major and longest lasting initiative that distinguished the group of Romanists from that of the Romani della Cisterna was the publication of Strenna dei Romanisti in 1940 , which appeared with Bottai's foreword and was edited by Augusto Jandolo, Piermattei and Ettore Veo, to which Ceccarius joined in the second year .

In the first three volumes of Strenna , published from 1940 to 1943 , the group adopted the rhetoric of the dictatorial regime, obviously aware that fascism was nothing more than a fleeting moment in history. During this period, two Romanists were members of the Gran Consiglio of the National Fascist Party, and those who held official positions, in particular in the city council of Rome, were also members of the party. However, the characteristic element of the group was located elsewhere: the passion for Rome was expressed in an extensive production of writings by the members, published in the form of articles in various magazines ( Capitolium - Rassegna mensile del Governatorato di Roma, Roma - Rivista di studi e cultura romana, L'Urbe ) or in monographs whose authors were often respected writers (Antonio Muñoz, Pier Paolo Trompeo, Ugo Ojetti , Gigi Huetter, Carlo Pietrangeli ).

From 1945 until today

After the death of Jandolo, the first president, in 1951 , the group met in the studio of the sculptor Enrico Tadolini, in Via del Babuino 153 B at the corner of Via dei Greci, under the chairmanship of Ceccarius . Around 1970 the monthly meetings and assemblies were moved to the Caffè Greco , first thanks to the hospitality of the then owner Antonietta Gubinelli Grimaldi, then the other family members of the Grimaldi and finally the subsequent managing directors. The meetings of the board of directors and the editorial committee benefited from the hospitality of the Fondazione Marco Besso at Largo di Torre Argentina until 2016 and then from the willingness of the Venerabile Arciconfraternita di Santa Maria dell'Orto , to which the group's archive was moved.

The new meaning of the term Romanista as members of the group has now solidified and is present in the basic dictionaries of the Italian language, starting from the Dizionario Enciclopedico Treccani , who already stated in 1959: «Friend of studies relating to history, urbanism, the Dialect literature, the anecdotes and curiosities of the city of Rome ». The Viale dei Romanisti (in the area of ​​Torrespaccata) is present with this specific meaning in the toponomastics of Rome , from which some streets branch off with the names of individual Romanists.

The group increasingly presents itself as an influential and prestigious association, working to advance and disseminate the studies of Rome, as well as to defend the historical and artistic values ​​and monuments of the city.

Their struggles in favor of the historical sites of the Roman archives are well known: in particular the Archivio di Stato of Rome and the Archivio Storico Capitolino , carried out together with other important institutions such as Italia Nostra , Centro studi per la storia della città, Associazione Nazionale Archivistica Italiana .

Three presidents of the republic visited the Gruppo in Caffè Greco: Francesco Cossiga , Oscar Luigi Scalfaro and Carlo Azeglio Ciampi , followed by a reception in the Quirinal (Scalfaro, February 14, 1996).

At other meetings, the mayors of the capital were present, including the presidents of the Province of Rome, the Region of Latium and the assessors , who were able to give direct impulses for the preservation of the cultural assets and the Roman traditions.

The group of Romanists is now integrated as an institution in intellectual and civil Roman life. The members are active in many sectors of national and local cultural institutions to spread the knowledge of the values ​​and peculiarities of the millennial history of the Urbs and their culture and to enrich it with new content.

The motto of the Romanists is listed in the frontispiece of their Bollettino, written in 1974 by Fabrizio Apollonj Ghetti, and reads:

Romanus sum: Romani nihil a me alienum puto .

organization

In 1972 the group adopted its first statute, which was then amended on May 5, 1976 ; The current text of the statutes was adopted by the meeting on January 13, 1993 . The association is based in Rome and its members - 111 in 2018 - are elected ( co-opted) by secret ballot at the regular annual meeting . The appointment is for life. The members hold a monthly meeting in the rear room (called Sala Rossa) of the Caffè Greco on Via dei Condotti 8 in Rome.

The organs of the group are the assembly, the president, the advisory board (consisting of seven members), the secretary, the treasurer and the monthly meetings. The members of the association's management are elected for a term of three years. The group also relies on project commissions appointed in the regular meetings.

On the website of the Romanists there is a complete directory of the members with their corresponding biographical profile. Another register records the deceased members. Numerous biographies of Romanists have also been published in the Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani .

President

  • 2019–2021 Donato Tamblé
  • 2016–2018 Tommaso di Carpegna Falconieri
  • 2013-2015 Paola Pavan
  • 2010–2012 Laura Gigli
  • 2007–2009 Umberto Mariotti Bianchi
  • 2004-2006 Filippo Delpino
  • 2001-2003 Umberto Mariotti Bianchi
  • 1999–2000 Umberto Mariotti Bianchi (deputy)
  • 1998–1999 Luigi Pallottino († 1999)
  • 1994-1998 Manlio Barberito
  • 1991-1993 Cesare D'Onofrio
  • 1988-1991 Manlio Barberito
  • 1985-1988 Cesare D'Onofrio
  • 1982–1985 Ettore Paratore
  • 1979–1982 Andrea Busiri Vici
  • 1976–1978 Ettore Paratore
  • 1972-1975 Salvatore Rebecchini
  • 1960–1971 Ceccarius
  • 1929–1959 Augusto Jandolo

Publications

  • Strenna dei Romanisti , annual anthology of Roman themes since 1940.
  • Albo dei Romanisti , annually.
  • Bollettino dei Curatores dell'Alma Roma , monthly from 1973 to 1994, director Fabrizio Apollonj Ghetti; second and third series under the name Bollettino del Gruppo dei Romanisti , from January 1995 to 2007 under the direction of Manlio Barberito, fourth series since 2018, director Tommaso di Carpegna Falconieri.
  • The group of Romanists has published a series of monographs and the series “I Quaderni del Gruppo dei Romanisti”.

Deceased members

Part of the group were famous people belonging to various professional groups, including:

Prices

Premio Daria Borghese

According to the statute, the prize is under the patronage of the group of Romanists and is set up to honor the memory of Donna Doria Borghese Olsoufieff. It is awarded annually by a specially created jury chaired by the group's president to a non-Italian author who has published works on Roman subjects in the same year or in three previous years. It can also be awarded to a non-Italian author for his complete works or to a non-Italian publisher for all publications dedicated to Rome. The winners include the German historians Arnold Esch (1994), Wolfgang Reinhard (2004) and Brigide Schwarz (2013). In 2015, the award went to the German archaeologist Chrystina Häuber.

Premio Livio Borghese

According to the statute, the prize is under the patronage of the group of Romanists and is set up to honor the memory of Livio Borghese. It will be awarded annually to an Italian person or institution who has the recognized merit of having published or at least implemented works or companies of particular interest with reference to Rome in the current year or in the three previous years, on a cultural or artistic level. The prize can also be awarded to an author or to a society for the entire work or initiatives, but also to a publisher for the entirety of the publications, always with reference to Rome.

bibliography

  • Emma Amadei: Un po 'di storia dei Romanisti , in: Strenna dei Romanisti , XXXIII, 1972, pp. 7-11.
  • Laura Biancini: Dall'osteria della Cisterna as Caffè Greco in compagnia di Ceccarius , in: Strenna dei Romanisti, LXXII, 2011.
  • Antonio Martini: I romanisti e la loro “Strenna”, in: Strenna dei Romanisti , LXXV, 2014, pp. I – XVIII.
  • Tamara Felicitas Hufschmidt, Livio Jannattoni: Antico Caffè Greco. Storia - Ambienti - Collezioni . Roma, Gruppo dei Romanisti 1989.
  • Tamara Felicitas Hufschmidt: Tadolini Adamo - Scipione - Giulio - Enrico. Quattro generazioni di scultori a Roma nei secoli XIX e XX . Roma, Gruppo dei Romanisti 1996.
  • Gruppo dei Romanisti, Romanisti di ieri. Sommario di notizie bio-bibliografiche dei Soci scomparsi fino al 2002. Rome, October 2002.

Picture gallery

  • Romanists - 1940

  • Signatures of the Romanists at the inauguration of the Hostaria dell'Orso - May 30, 1940

  • Romanists - n.d.

  • President Ciampi and the Romanists

  • The Romanists in Jandolo's study together with the Governor of Rome, Prince Giangiacomo Borghese - 1941

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ GRUPPO DEI ROMANISTI. Retrieved January 18, 2019 (it-IT).
  2. ↑ Art. 1 of the Statute adopted by the Assembly of the Romanists' Group on January 13, 1993.
  3. ^ I romanisti e la loro “Strenna”. (PDF) GRUPPO DEI ROMANISTI, accessed on January 16, 2019 (Italian).
  4. ↑ Ermanno Ponti, I babbioni , in Strenna dei Romanisti , I, 1940, pp. 119–123.
  5. ↑ Orazio Amato, Il Sor Tito , in Strenna dei Romanisti , I, 1940, p. 110.
  6. ↑ Livio Jannattoni, I “Romanisti” , in Roma di ieri, oggi, domani, IV, Nov. 1991, pp. 75-77.
  7. ↑ Laura Biancini: Dall'osteria della Cisterna al Caffè Greco in compagnia di Ceccarius , in Strenna dei Romanisti , February 5, 1931, LXXII, 2011, p. 66.
  8. ↑ Livio Jannattoni, I 'Romanisti " cit., P 76; Laura Biancini, Dall'osteria cit., Pp. 68-69.
  9. ↑ Marcello Piermattei, Chi sono i "Romanisti"? , in Strenna dei Romanisti , I, 1940, pp. 40-42.
  10. ↑ Cf. sv Ceccarius , in Dizionario biografico degli Italiani, vol. 23, 1979.
  11. ^ Romanista in Vocabolario - Treccani. Retrieved November 26, 2019 (it-IT).
  12. ↑ February 1991, cf. Strenna dei Romanisti 1991, p. 8.
  13. ↑ December 3, 1997, cf. Bollettino dei Romanisti December 1997 and September 1998; L'Urbe No. 6, 1997; Strenna dei Romanisti 1998 (summary of President Scalfaro's speech).
  14. ^ Tommaso di Carpegna Falconieri: Bolletino del GRUPPO DEI ROMANISTI. (PDF) Gruppo dei Romanisti, April 29, 1974, accessed January 17, 2019 (Italian).
  15. ↑ see: http://www.gruppodeiromanisti.it/?page_id=52
  16. ↑ see: http://www.gruppodeiromanisti.it/?page_id=54
  17. ↑ Chrystina Häuber receives Roman Literature Prize - LMU Munich. Retrieved January 17, 2019 .