To mark the fi rst centenary of the birth of Vittore Branca (1913-2004), the Department  of Linguistic and Literary Studies at the University of Padua, in close collaboration  with the Giorgio Cini Foundation and the Veneto Institute of Sciences, Letters and  Arts, has organised an international study conference aimed at highlighting the figure of the great scholar of Italian literature, teacher and cultural organiser. This latter
aspect of his intense activities will be the subject of the second day of the conference due to be held at the Giorgio Cini Foundation. Branca will thus also be commemorated  for the many years when he was secretary general of the Foundation, working alongside  the founder and then as vice president and president, organising many prestigious  events with an international reach. The book of the proceedings, which will bring  together the various papers from the conference, will provide enduring, solid evidence
of Branca’s intellectual stature and his fundamental rootedness in the Veneto over the
past half century, still important today, and his considerable overall cultural legacy