About us

The Centre is one of three world-wide ‘cattedre leopardiane’ set up by the Centro Nazionale di Studi Leopardiani in the year of Leopardi’s bicentenary in 1998 as part of its ‘Leopardi nel mondo’ project.

The Centre exists in order to  

  • promote the study and knowledge of Leopardi and his European context at postdoctoral and postgraduate, as well as undergraduate level
  •  facilitate research on Leopardi and on related topics, including the European reception of Leopardi’s work, and to act as a UK focus for research into the cultures of 18th and 19th century Italy  
  • organise research seminars and colloquia with specialists in 18th and 19th century studies and related fields from Italy, the UK and other countries  
  • maintain and enhance as full as possible a collection of publications relating to Leopardi in the European languages, and to collect relevant bibliographical material.

The Director of the Centre is Franco D'Intino.