Leading Italian Hellenist dies

Leading Italian scholar of the Greek language Mario Vitti has died in Rome at the age of 96. Vitti was a researcher of modern Greek literature and professor emeritus of Greek literature at the University of Tuscia in Viterbo, Italy.

A close friend of Greek Nobel Laureate Odysseus Elytis, composer Mikis Theodorakis and many other writers and artists, his “History of Modern Greek Literature” was widely translated.

Vitti, who was born in Istanbul, was Greek on his mother’s side. He grew up in the Greek community of Istanbul.

Shortly after World War II, the family moved to Italy. He studied in Rome, where he began his work as a researcher of modern Greek literature.