Ezio Levi (1884–1941)

Ezio Levi was born to a Jewish family in Mantua, Italy. He graduated from the University of Pavia in 1906, and continued to study philology at the Istituto di studi superiori (Institute of Higher Studies) in Florence, where he was a pupil of the writer and politician Alessandro D'Ancona. His particular interest was in the literature of Spain. In 1916, he married Flora Aghib, a niece of D'Ancona, and in 1921 adopted his surname. He began his teaching career in high schools in Lucera and Naples, before joining the faculty of the Magisterium of Florence in 1918. He became a professor of Romance language literature at the University of Palermo and in 1925, moved to the University of Naples. After he lost his position due to the Fascist laws persecuting Jews, he went into exile with his family to the USA. In 1940, he began teaching at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, and died in Boston the following year. Prof. Levi D'Ancona's numerous books included Antonio and Nicolò da Ferrara, Poets and Men of the 14th Century Court (1909), The Legendary Cantari of the Italian People in the 14th and 15th Centuries (1914), Piccarda and Gentucca: Dante Studies and Research (1921), Ancient Lombard Poets (1921), Romantic Lives (1934), and Five Studies on Ariosto (1938).