Collection of works dedicated to the noted Italian Slavicist and Ukrainist Dr. Giovanna Brogi Bercoff
On Jan. 29, the Department of Linguistic, Literary and Philological Studies at the University of Milan will launch the two-volume collection Nel mondo degli Slavi. Incontri e dialoghi tra culture. (Studi in onore di Giovanna Brogi Bercoff, a cura di M. Di Salvo, G. Siedina) — In the Slavic World. Meetings and Dialogs between Cultures (Studies in Honor of Giovanna Brogi Bercoff. Edited by M. Di Salvo, G. Siedina). This event marks the 65th birthday recently celebrated by Dr. Giovanna Brogi Bercoff, a well-known Italian Slavicist, Polonist, Russist, who has for a number of years been a Ukrainist as well.
Dr. Giovanna Brogi Bercoff is a lecturer who specializes in Slavic philology at the University of Milan. She is the author of numerous papers on medieval Slavic languages and literature, Polish, Croatian, Ukrainian, and Russian historiography of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. She is the editor in chief of the journal Russica Romana, president of the Italian Association for Ukrainian Studies. Until recently, she was vice president of the International Association of Ukrainists. As a Ukrainist, she is the author of numerous essays relating to the history of Ukrainian literature of the Baroque period and 19th century, studies on the history of Ukrainian literature, and translations. She is preparing for publication an anthology of Ukrainian literature from olden times to the present. Dr. Brogi Bercoff has initiated and organized a number of Ukrainian studies symposiums, including the ones entitled “Ukraine’s Reintegration into Europe: Topical Historical, Historiographic, and Political Problems,” “Kyiv and Lviv: Cultural ‘Text,’” “Mazepa and His Times. History, Culture, Society.” The latter was Europe’s first international symposium dealing with Hetman Mazepa’s complex aspects and his role in Ukrainian history, culture, religion, and official ideology. Toward the end of last year, Dr. Brogi Bercoff took part in the international scholarly conference “Ivan Mazepa and His Epoch: History, Culture, National Memory” at the Kyiv Mohyla Academy National University.
Most importantly, Dr. Brogi Bercoff has for a number of years tried to establish a Ukrainian studies chair at the University of Milan, while teaching Ukrainian literature and history of the Ukrainian language, and initiating a course in the Ukrainian language. In fact, there are only two Ukrainian studies chairs in Europe, at the universities of Greifswald (Germany) and Rome (the latter headed by the writer and cultural analyst Oxana Pachliowska).
