Dante Day 2021 – Dante700 Official Launch

Join us for the opening event of this anniversary of the passing of “Sommo Poeta” and “Father of Italian Language”, in a collaborative initiative of the Dante Alighieri Societies of Australia.

How Dante Changed my Life from Melbourne to Umbria in a Heart beat

Professor Rodney Lokaj PhD, Laurea, BA

The talk will describe the profound impact Dante Alighieri has had on the speaker, from the very first lesson he attended in Italian literature in Australia to his many scholarly achievements throughout the entire Italian peninsula and quite beyond, all while based in a medieval tower just outside Spoleto.

H.E. Francesca TardioIi Ambassador of Italy

Professor Franco Papandrea President DAS Canberra

Dr Joshua Brown, Convenor Italian Studies ANU

Hosted by the Dante Alighieri Society of Canberra

at the Italian Cultural Centre 80/82 Franklin Street, Forrest ACT 2603

and as an Online Webinar 

25 March 2021 – 7pm (Canberra time)

Limited numbers.

Register to attend face to face event at:

Register to attend online event at:

Rodney Lokaj has full-professor status as recognised by the Italian Ministry of Education. At the University of Enna, “Kore”, Sicily, he is in charge of several courses including: History of the Italian language; Italian linguistics and grammar; and Italian philology. His numerous scholarly publications written in either English or Italian regard: Saint Francis, Dante, Petrarch, Humanism, Castiglione, Manzoni, Verga. He has on-going collaborations for research and publishing with the State Archives of Perugia, the Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua, and the Vatican Library. He is also an active member of many learned societies throughout the world, including: the International Society for the Classical Tradition; Societas Studiis Neolatinis Provehendis; Renaissance Society of America; Società Dantesca Italiana; American Philological Association; Accademia degli Ottusi, Spoleto; Dante Society of America; Deputazione di Storia Patria per l’Umbria; Society of Philologists of Italian Literature; Accademia Petrarca di Arezzo. He sits on the executive board of the American Association of Neo-Latin Studies and several leading academic journals. His most recent publications regard: the Franciscan Canticle of the Creatures; Prospero Intorcetta and Confucius; an unknown Humanist from Spoleto, Fabio Vigili; emending the classical tradition in Renaissance Italy – Pietro Bembo and Virgil’s Gnat.