The (; ), generally abbreviated as La Crusca, is a Florence-based society of scholars of Italian linguistics and philology. It is one of the most important research institutions of the Italian language, as well as the oldest linguistic academy in the world.

The Accademia was founded in Florence in 1583, and has since been characterised by its efforts to maintain the purity of the Italian language. ', which means "bran" in Italian, helps convey the metaphor that its work is similar to winnowing, as also does its emblem depicting a sifter for straining out corrupt words and structures (as bran is separated from wheat). The academy motto is "Il più bel fior ne coglie" ('She gathers the fairest flower'), a famous line by the Italian poet Petrarch. In 1612, the Accademia published the first edition of its dictionary, the Vocabolario degli Accademici della Crusca, which has served as the model for similar works in French, Spanish, German and English.

History

Origins

thumb|left|[[Villa di Castello, headquarters of the ]]

The founders were originally called the and constituted a circle composed of poets, men of letters, and lawyers. The members usually assembled on pleasant and convivial occasions, during which —discourses in a merry and playful style, which have neither a beginning nor an end—were recited. The Crusconi used humour, satire, and irony to distance itself from the pedantry of the Accademia Fiorentina, protected by Grand Duke Cosimo I de' Medici, and to contrast itself with the severe and classic style of that body. This battle was fought without compromising the primary intention of the group, which was typically literary and expounded in high-quality literary disputes.

The founders of the are traditionally identified as ('Sollo'), Antonio Francesco Grazzini ('Lasca'), ('Gramolato'), ('Macerato'), Bastiano de' Rossi ('Inferigno'); they were joined in October 1582 by Lionardo Salviati ('Infarinato') (1540–1589). Under his leadership, at the beginning of 1583, the Accademia took on a new form, directing itself to demonstrate and to conserve the beauty of the Florentine vulgar tongue, modelled upon the authors of the Trecento.

Monosini and the first Vocabolario

One of the earliest scholars to influence the work of the Crusca was Agnolo Monosini. He contributed greatly to the 1612 edition of Vocabolario degli Accademici della Crusca, especially with regard to the influence of Greek, which, he maintained, made a significant contribution to the Florentine idiom of the period. with the Petrarchan motto Il più bel fior ne coglie (She gathers the fairest flower).

In 1636, Cardinal Richelieu created the on the model of the .

Beccaria and Verri opposition

The linguistic purism of the Accademia found opposition in Cesare Beccaria and the Verri brothers (Pietro and Alessandro), who through their journal Il Caffè systematically attacked the Accademia's archaisms as pedantic, denouncing the Accademia while invoking for contrast no less than the likes of Galileo and Newton and even modern intellectual cosmopolitanism itself. However, since Galileo published his scientific works in his native Florentine Italian, as opposed to the Latin which was customary for academic works of the time, it has also been argued that he implicitly supported the Accademia's purpose.

Baroque period

The Accademia's activities carried on with both high and low points until 1783, when Pietro Leopoldo quit and, with several other academicians, created the second Accademia Fiorentina. In 1808, however, the third Accademia Fiorentina was founded and, by a decree of 19 January 1811, signed by Napoleon, the Crusca was re-established with its own status of autonomy, statutes and previous aims.

In recent years

In 2007, the website e-Leo (leonardodigitale.com), compiling 3,000 drawings and writings of Leonardo da Vinci, was launched with the help of the Accademia della Crusca to decipher some of the inventor's scribblings.

In August 2011, the existence of the Accademia was threatened when Giulio Tremonti and Silvio Berlusconi introduced a proposition to eradicate all public-funded entities with fewer than 70 members. In August 2015, the Accademia's website was defaced by a hacker linked to ISIS.

In February 2016, the Accademia approved an eight-year-old boy's submission for the new Italian word petaloso (full of petals).

Events

On the occasion of the XXV Week of the Italian Language in the World (13-19 October 2025) the Accademia della Crusca and goWare are distributing the e-book Italofonia: language beyond borders.

Composition

thumb|150px|right|[[Petrarch was endorsed as a model for Italian style by the Accademia della Crusca.]]

thumb|150px|right|[[Pietro Bembo was an influential figure in the development of Italian, codifying the language for standard modern usage.]]

Members

Members include:

  • Nicoletta Maraschio (emerita), honorary president, Florence
  • Lorenzo Renzi (emeritus), Padua
  • Luca Serianni (emeritus), Rome
  • Martin Maiden, Oxford

References

Further reading

  • Yates, Frances A. "The Italian Academies", in: Collected Essays; vol. II: Renaissance and Reform; the Italian Contribution, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1983. .
  • Wiesner-Hanks, Merry E. Early Modern Europe, 1450–1789. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. .
  • The search for Some Historical References of Academy
  • Dictionary of Academy of Bran, the online version of editions 1612 through 1923
  • Academy of Bran and Some Historical References
  • Accademia Della Crusca Collection, from the Rare Book and Special Collections Division at the Library of Congress
  • Scholars and Literati at the Accademia della Crusca (1583–1800) in Repertorium Eruditorum Totius Europae/RETE