A Udine 150 anni di educazione, giochi e letture

Abstract

Adolfo Pick (1829-1894), a Moravian pedagogue from a very poor Jewish family, after participating in the First Independence War in the ranks of the Austrian army, settled in Venice, where he developed and put into practice, through the creation of children’s gardens, the theories of Friedrich Fröbel, of which he was one of the greatest exponents in Italy. During his frequent study trips in Europe Pick built up a rich pedagogical library in several languages. Thanks to a very good relationship with senator Gabriele Luigi Pecile, also Mayor of Udine, he donated his library to the Municipal Library as a bequest. The article also traces the particular and fruitful sensitivity towards childhood education of Udine, from the extraordinary Marco Volpe Children’s Garden, to Ida Sello’s international toy emporium (later studied by the great Giampaolo Dossena), to the efficient and well-stocked Children’s section of the Municipal Library, up to the ludobus service and the splendid municipal toy library. Its numerous games are now catalogued for the SBN pole of Friuli Venezia Giulia by the Joppi Library.