Silvano Gerevini
(Director from 1955 to 1973)
(Vicenza, 1922 - Pavia, 1993)
Graduated in literature at the University of Pavia in 1947, a war orphan and a refugee from Africa, after a short period of non-tenured teaching in secondary schools, from November 1947, he entered in May 1949 the state libraries with the title of vice librarian.
He always worked at the University Library of Pavia, where in the early years he completed the cataloguing of the manuscripts and took care of the laborious review of the catalog of old hard copies. In 1952 he was promoted to second class librarian performing the functions of deputy director of Gustavo Vinay, then in 1954 he moved to first class.
In November 1955, when Vinay left the library for the academic career, he was in charge of the management of the Institute and a few years later he was appointed fully Director. During his leadership he expanded and renovated the headquarters of the Library (1962) and started the cataloging of the sixteenth century books (1963). In 1966 he was promoted director of first class and in June 1973 he left the service, taking advantage of the facilities for early retirement, with the title of senior executive.
In addition to his professional activity, he had grown interests for classical philology, publishing an academic edition with introduction, translation and commentary of Vita di Flaminino di Plutarco (Milano, Marzorati, 1952; location: Papia A 998) and L'Archiloco perduto e la tradizione critico-letteraria (Napoli, Macchiaroli, 1954; location: Misc. 8 1900 14), but since 1954 he devoted himself to the English and American Literature, collaborating to "Aut aut", the "Nuova Antologia" and specialized periodicals. The english volumes and essays (Shakespeare, Dryden, etc.) let him earn in 1969 a teaching qualification in English language and literature and, the following year, the task of teaching the subject in the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the University of Pavia, where he had been since 1960 a voluntary assistant of English literature. After his retirement from libraries, he has devoted himself entirely to university, did publish several works especially around Shakespeare. become also director of the library of the Institute of English Language and Literature.
Find Manuscripts by Silvano Gerevini in Inventario dei manoscritti Ticinesi