LINGUISTS from Italy

Top 2

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Italian Linguists of all time. This list of famous Italian Linguists is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Renato Corsetti (1941 - 2025)

With an HPI of 57.80, Renato Corsetti is the most famous Italian Linguist.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages on wikipedia.

Renato Corsetti (29 March 1941 – 1 February 2025) was an Italian Esperantist who served as President of the Universal Esperanto Association between 2001 and 2007. Born in Rome, Corsetti supported the idea that the people of the world should be able to communicate in a neutral and easy international language. He taught psycholinguistics at the Sapienza University of Rome. He was also an associate professor at the International Academy of Sciences San Marino. Corsetti was married to Anna Löwenstein, also an Esperantist. The couple lived together in Italy from 1981, but as of 2015, they were living in the UK. Corsetti died on 1 February 2025, at the age of 83.

2. Giuliano Bonfante (1904 - 2005)

With an HPI of 55.68, Giuliano Bonfante is the 2nd most famous Italian Linguist.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Giuliano Bonfante (6 August 1904, Milan – 9 September 2005, Rome) was an Italian linguist and expert on the language of the Etruscans and other Italic peoples. He was professor of linguistics at the University of Genoa and then at the University of Turin. Bonfante was born in Milan, the son of jurist Pietro Bonfante. He collaborated with his daughter, Larissa Bonfante, in his study of the Etruscan language. He became a member of the Accademia dei Lincei in 1958. He died in Rome.