University of Genoa

Already in the 13th century in Genoa there were Colleges, which gathered together people sharing the same field of knowledge. These Colleges were ruled by Statutes, which established a compulsory entrance examination for each candidate, to be taken in the presence of the members of the College. This was the first organized form of higher education in Genoa: the setting up of Colleges, which conferred degrees in Law, Theology, Medicine and Arts.

There is no exact date for the foundation of the College of Law, but it certainly already existed before 1307, since in that year the Commanders of the local militia sanctioned that every member of the College should be exempted from all taxes and duties. Similarly, we do not have any exact documentation about the foundation of the College of Medicine, but it was probably contemporary to that of the College of Law, and was certainly established before 1353, when a tax exemption was decreed for both Colleges. The College of Medicine also included courses in Philosophy and the Arts, as well as Natural Sciences, whose knowledge was considered to be an integral part of Medicine.

The actual promulgation of a Statute of the College of Medicine by the Council of the Elders dates back to August 8th, 1481. The College of Theology was also established around the same time, officially dating back to the 1471 Papal Bull of Sixths IV (Francesco della Rovere from Savona).

In 1512 Ettore Vernazza left instructions in his will that four chairs of Medicine should be created in Genoa, thus contributing to the spread of culture in the city. Similarly, in 1536 Ansaldo Grimaldi left a legacy for the establishment of four University chairs: of Canon Law, Civil Law, Moral Philosophy, and Mathematics.
In 1569, by a decree of the Senate, these were incorporated into the schools run by the Jesuits, who had begun taking an interest in higher education in 1554, and had founded their own schools and a College. After moving to various places in the city, the Jesuits finally settled near the old Church of San Girolamo Del Rosso, and enlarged their premises by buying some land on which to house their College and schools. The building, which is now the main University premises, was designed by the architect Bartolomeo Bianco, and began to be used in 1640. In their College, the Jesuits set up the chairs of Philosophy and Theology, and the first degrees were conferred in 1628.

After the suppression of the Company of Jesus in 1773, a special Committee reorganized the various courses of study in relation to both higher education (Canon Law, Philosophy, Civil Law, Theology, Logic and Metaphysics, Physics) and primary education (courses in Rhetoric, Reading and Writing). The Senate appointed professors and teachers. As from 1777 a legacy enabled the setting up of a chair of Chemistry, which was also provided with a laboratory. The chair was conferred on Guglielmo Batt, who began to organize a botanical garden on the hill behind the University premises.

After October 25th, 1781, all the degrees in Theology were awarded by the University, and by a decree of the Senate dating April 29th, 1782; the College of Theology was incorporated into the Faculty of Theology of the University. Two years later, in 1784, such new subjects as Commercial Arithmetic, Natural History and Experimental Physics were activated. A course in Algebra and Geometry was temporarily assigned to a lecturer in Metaphysics, who held it without payment.
The various governments, which followed after 1797, took a particular interest in higher education. The local government, which was re-established in 1802, gave the University a new set of rules setting up a Committee consisting of five members, one for each of the four Faculties (Theology, Philosophy, Law and Medicine) and a further member to ensure the free election of the professors. The Medical courses, which up to then had been carried out in Pammatone under the supervision of patrons, now passed under the jurisdiction of the University.

The various University courses would last three or four years under the supervision of the Committee, whose task was also to fix the number of examinations each student had to pass in order to obtain his degree. After the establishment of the French Empire, which absorbed the Genoese Republic, higher education was subdivided into different special Schools: Law, Medicine, Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Commerce, Language and Literature, Chemistry. The University of Genoa, like many other cultural centres orbiting around the Empire, was affiliated to the Imperial U After the fall of Napoleon, the provisional Government of the Republic appointed a new Committee in charge of higher education, and at the Congress of Vienna in 1815 it was decided that the University of Genoa be entrusted to the Kingdom of Sardinia, enjoying the same privileges as those granted to the University of Turin. During the risings of 1821-23 and 1830-35, the University was closed down owing to the unrest of the period and afterwards for reasons of public order. The entrance-hall of the main University building still bears witness to that period of great university of Paris.

After the fall of Napoleon, the provisional Government of the Republic appointed a new Committee in charge of higher education, and at the Congress of Vienna in 1815 it was decided that the University of Genoa be entrusted to the Kingdom of Sardinia, enjoying the same privileges as those granted to the University of Turin. During the risings of 1821-23 and 1830-35, the University was closed down owing to the unrest of the period and afterwards for reasons of public order. The entrance-hall of the main University building still bears witness to that period of great political and intellectual fervour: the busts of Giuseppe Mazzini, Giuseppe Garibaldi, Goffredo Mameli and Nino Bixio stand beside those of Genoese professors such as Cesare Cabella and Cesare Parodi, who in different ways took part in the Risorgimento movement. The first tricolour, symbol of national unity, which the students led by Goffredo Mameli waved along the streets of Genoa on September 10th, 1847, to celebrate the anniversary of the expulsion of the Austrians, is still kept inside the premises of the University.

In 1862, the so-called Matteucci-Law qualified Genoa as a second-level University. In 1885, however, Genoa was raised to first level, and this was confirmed in 1923 when the Gentile-Law became effective.

Two important institutes of higher education were established in Genoa in 1870: the Royal Naval School and the Royal School of Economic Studies, which later, in 1936, were absorbed by the Royal University of Genoa, becoming the Faculties of Engineering and Economics respectively.