Paolo Traniello: un grande studioso dal tratto signorile (1938-2023)

Abstract

The article traces the personal and intellectual story of Professor Paolo Traniello, one of the major Italian library science scholars. His research activity has been characterized by the study of the institutional and sociological aspects of libraries, the development of publishing and copyright law. between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. His studies reveal abreadth of disciplinary horizons and intersections and a strong comparativist dimension, unusual not only for Italian librarianship. He was a cultured man, of rare human and intellectual finesse, who always tried to combine historical reflection and contemporaneity, civil commitment and social solidarity. Elegant, discreet, of uncompromising intellectual and ethical rigour, free from compromises, primarily academic ones. A person of great generosity capable of listening and making his point of view heard, with a fine sense of humour. He was a true master in his studies and in the library profession. The strength of his intellectual teaching came first and foremost from the ability to renew himself and always look beyond, with a constant dialogue competency that characterizes his intellectual and human research.