People, places, stories

The University’s 800th anniversary tells a story of the tradition and modernity of people, events, and places through the close interweaving of relationships developed over eight centuries. Padua and its University continue to endure as a place for meetings, exchanges, arrivals and departures, and as a central point in the dissemination of culture and knowledge with the world.

All People Stories Places Curiosities

Francesco Zabarella

(Padua, 10.8.1360 -Konstanz, 26.9.1417) Francesco Zabarella studied philosophy, theology and law in Padua, under Antonio Naseri. He then moved to Bologna to study under Lorenzo del Pino and Giovanni da …

The history behind Piave Futura

Vacant since 2015, the Ministry of Defense officially transferred the Piave Caserma deed to the University in 2017. Located in the heart of the city between Riviera Paleocapa and via …

Caffè Pedrocchi

It was 1772 when Francesco Pedrocchi opened a coffee shop in Padua.

Riccardo Malombra

(Cremona, 1259/1264 – Venezia, 1334) Figlio del giurista Niccolò, che aveva insegnato a Padova diritto canonico e civile, Riccardo Malombra studia a Padova dove è allievo di Iacopo …

The Marchesi inauguration speech of the 722nd academic year

It is 9 November 1943, at the height of one of the darkest periods of recent Italian history, when the University of Padua is preparing, in spite of everything, to …

Student associations

Following the multi-national chancellor posts attested in 1228 and 1241, the structure of the students’ associations was clearly set out in the charters of jurist students, whereby, from 1260 onwards, …

Giacomo Casanova

(Venice, 2.4.1725 – Duchcov, 4.6.1798) The Venetian Giacomo Casanova arrived in Padua in 1734 at the age of 9, where he studied and immediately showed his brilliant mind. In Padua, …

Niccolò Copernico

(Torún, 19.02.1473 – Frombork,24.05.1543) Born in Poland, he started his studies at the cathedral school in Wloclawek and then enrolled at the University of Krakow in 1491 where he began …

Universitas Artistarum founded

Nel corso del Trecento il vincolo corporativo che legava gli scolari “artisti” nei confronti dei “giuristi” andò via via col diventare troppo stretto ai primi, consapevoli dell’importanza sempre crescente degli …

Ole Worm

(Aarhus, Denmark-Norway 1588 – Copenhagen, Denmark-Norway 1654) Danish Medical Doctor and Natural Historian Born to a Lutheran family, he was the son of Villum Worm and Inger Olufsdatter. After his …

Emile (Miles) Perrot

(Paris ? – 1556) Born into a middle class French bourgeois family, Emile Perrot was the son of Miles I and Denise Gobelin. He first began his humanities study in …

Alessandro Maurocordato

(Phanar, Costantinopoli 1636/1641 – 1709/1710) Doctor, Chief Dragoman of the Empire Council Son of a silk merchant, Nicola and Roxana Beglitzi, Maurocordato was born into a Byzantine family who had …

Anatomical dissections between the 15th and 16th centuries

Before the Anatomy Theatre was completed in 1595, anatomy was taught in Padua through the dissection of corpses in demountable theatres made from wooden galleries that would be put together …

Palazzo Cavalli

Palazzo Cavalli was built in the mid-16th century by the family of the same name, who went on to live there for more than two centuries. It made news just …

Thomas Linacre

The Carraresi “professorship policy”

Relations between the university and the signoria were encouraged by the fact that the latter continued to intervene in university affairs, also during the second period of the Da Cararra …

Vincenzo Gallucci and the first heart transplant in Italy

That night between November 13 and 14, 1985, a heart stopped, the time between two beats expanded from a few moments to hours, before returning to beat in the chest …

Arturo Martini

(Treviso, 11.08.1889 – Milan, 22.03.1947) Arturo Martini was born in Treviso in 1889 to a very poor family.

Michel (de) L’Hospital

(1505 Aigueperse, France-1573 Etampes, France) Jean de L’Hôpital, Lord de La Roche Jean de L’Hôpital, seigneur de La Roche Son of Jean de L’Hospital and of Marie de La Guiole. …

Stefano Báthory

(Somlyo, Transilvania 1533 – 1586 Grodno) King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Stephen Báthory was born on 27 September 1533 in the castle at Somlyó, also known as …

Enrico Zeno Bernardi

(Verona, 20.05.1841 – Turin, 21.02.1919) He graduated in mathematics from the University of Padua in 1863 and in 1879 he became professor of machines of the University where he remained …

Tas Cernohorsky z Boskovic

(? 1457 – 1490 Vyškov/Wischau) Cernohorsky’s family belonged to the Hussite nobility, a pre-Protestant movement that followed the teachings of the Bohemian Reformationist, Jan Hus. Cernohorsky’s father Benediky (Beneš) converted …

The enlargement and renewal of the Bo and the building of Palazzo Liviano

Between the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century, Palazzo Bo was expanded to receive the final order. From the initial complex of the Hospitium Bovis, the …

Gabriele Falloppio or Falloppia

(Modena, 1523 – Padua, 9.10.1562) Gabriele Falloppia initially embarked on an ecclesiastic career but, since his youth, he had been dedicated to studying medicine and anatomy, which he practised as …

Gregorio Giovanni Gaspare Barbarigo

(Venice, 16.10.1625 – Padua, 18.6.1697) Gregorio Barbarigo’s father, senator of the Venetian Republic, was an incredibly religious man and personally took care of his son’s philosophical and mathematical education, later …

Emanuele Sciascian

(Constantinople, Ottoman Empire 1775 -1858) Armenian physician Son of Boghos, a famous Armenian doctor, Sciascian studied in Venice with the Mekhitarists, a congregation of Benedictine monks. He then enrolled in …

Nicolò Cusano

(Bernkastel-Kues, 1401 – Todi, 11.8.1464) German-born Nicholas of Cusa was a jurist, philosopher and philologist and is one of the illustrious foreign students depicted by Gian Giacomo Dal Forno in …

New migration of students from Bologna in the 14th century

After the mass exodus that occurred in the 13th century, especially in 1306 and 1321, students continued to move from the University of Bologna to the University of Padova, presenting …

Massimo Campigli

A modern “European” artist and well-educated in ancient civilisations and ancient languages, Massimo Campigli was one of the most important and influential Italian artists of the 20th century.

The 1968 Student Protest Movement at the University of Padova

The University of Padova is the protagonist of the 1968 Student Protest Movement and the years of protest right from the start: the student body, enormously increased (from about 10,000 …

Edmund Davie

(unknown – London, before 1688) Edmund was the son of an English merchant who emigrated to Boston in 1662. He had already been awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree from …

Jan Kochanowski

(Sycyna, Poland 1530 – Lublin, Poland 1584) Polish Renaissance poetBorn into the country nobility, Kochanowski father was judge of the district of Sandomierz, and his mother Anna Odrowąż. Kochanoski studied …