A short history

The Società Ligure di Storia Patria, was founded on November 22nd 1857 and was the first Italian historical society to be founded by private citizens.
The one hundred and ten founder members - from the Ligurian cultural élite - set the tone for the following years of collective research in the fields of History, Archaeology, the Fine Arts and Legislature. Their findings were published first in the Giornale Ligustico and then in the Giornale storico e letterario della Liguria, whilst the results of more detailed research were reserved for the Atti delle Società Ligure di Storia Patria of which forty-two volumes were published in the first fifty years. These volumes included important documentary collections such as the two registers from the eleventh and twelfth centuries of the Archiepiscopal curia; Caffaro's chronicle of the first crusade; the publication of documents relating to the Genoese colonies in the Black Sea; two volumes on Santa Maria di Castello; Cornelio Desimoni's works on the monetary systems and the essays and editorial works of Arturo Ferretto. The secretary and leading figure of the first forty years was Luigi Tommaso Belgrano, a nationally renowned figure who began the publication of Caffaro's Annali genovesi and who was the leading spirit behind the Raccolta Colombiana. In 1896 the Società was granted its first permanent headquarters, in the Palazzo Bianco, only to move to the Palazzo Rosso in 1908. In 1914 the Società organized the Mostra storica coloniale, a testament to the work of the Società and of its then President, Cesare Imperiale di Sant'Angelo.
The First World War wrought many changes and during the 1920s the Società flourished, amid some controversy, under the enlightened spirit of Francesco Poggi. In 1935 the Società per se was suppressed and transformed into a Regia Deputazione but, in its altered form continued to flourish under the influence of Vito Vitale who was active in the administration (eventually becoming President) until 1955, and managed to avoid the revanchist tendencies of this difficult period in history. Other major figures in these years were the senator Moresco and Gian Piero Bognetti and the work of the Società included the launch of the publication of the acts of the Genoese notaries and their subsequent repositioning as a source not just of economic, but also of social, history.
The years following the Second World War brought different problems. The Società was short of funds and forced to undergo yet another move; membership was low and although these years saw the publication of Vitale's Breviario della Storia di Genova, a work which seemed to mark the end of an era. The author's death and the weaker Presidency of his brilliant, if ineffective, successor Agostino Virgilio, meant that this was a period in which the Società struggled to find its identity and was forced to rethink its position.
Indeed, very little happened during the years 1956-62: only three volumes of the Atti and the acts of two notaries were published. The Società was in need of new members and a new headquarters: in short, it needed new life.
Hence in 1962, at an extraordinary General Meeting, the membership of the Council was radically altered. Onorato Pastine was elected President and new, younger, reinforcements who had studied at the University under Giorgio Falco, Geo Pistarino and Franco Borlandi were summoned to sit alongside high-profile figures from the past who were open to change. Evidence of this was the election as President in 1963, following the death of Pastine, of Borlandi, a renowned historian who had previously been head of the Istituto italiano di cultura di Bruxelles, cultural attache at Paris and Dean of the Facoltà di Economia e Commercio and the election of a thirty-year old, Dino Puncuh, as Secretary. Thus began a happier period for the Società.
Under Borlandi's Presidency, until his premature demise in 1974, the Società went from strength to strength. The Atti were published twice a year; a new headquarters was found in Albaro; relations with the most important historical journals, both national and international, were re-established; lectures and debates on Ligurian history were held; the Società took part in the exhibition on medieval Ligurian notaries in 1964; Georg Caro's important work on the period of the capitani del popolo (1257-1311) was translated into Italian and the Circolo numismatico ligure, under Corrado Astengo, became a recognized part of the Società. Yet perhaps Borlandi's most important contribution was the idea of service to the Società, an idea which was inherited by his successors: Giovanni Pesce (1974) and Giorgio Costamagna (1975-1977). The latter established the basis for the new directions which the Società would then take under the presidency of Puncuh, elected in 1978.
These saw the transformation of the Società as a passive recipient of independent research into a pro-active research centre which undertook its own, carefully planned, research. This was helped by the involvement of the Società with the most important private archive and library in Liguria through its owner the marchesa Carlotta Cattaneo Adorno. With the help of only a handful of volunteers, volumes on the manuscripts, the incunabula and the Durazzo and Pallavicini archives saw the light of day. The inventory of the Sauli archive will be published in 2001
Thus the legislative reform of 1980, which meant that the State would only support research bodies, was not a problem and indeed the Società continues to move forward. Increasing numbers of young scholars have helped it to broaden its horizons. Some of the most important events of the last years have been a series of themed lecture programmes; five large conferences between 1984 and 1992; the drawing up of the inventories of the large archive of the Banco di San Giorgio (of which 14 volumes have already been published under the Ufficio Centrale per i beni archivistici) and finally the organization of the exhibition Colombo e l'apertura degli spazi in 1992. The work of the Società continues with renewed vigour in its new headquarters at the Palazzo Ducale.
The Atti continue to be published (having by now reached the CXIII volume) and new initiatives have been undertaken: a series called Fonti per la storia della Liguria which is now at the XIV volume and of particular note in this series are the edition of the libri iurium of the Genoese Republic and the papers of the monastery of San Siro (952-1328); the two on-going catalogues of the published medieval sources and the statutes of Liguria; the formation of a work group on the history of the University of Genoa (three volumes already completed) and, finally, the project for the analytical and computerized inventory of all the Genoese notarial acts from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries, but this project will depend greatly on financial help from other sources: a perpetual problem in the face of general indifference and incomprehension.
Yet, despite this, the Societa is looking to the future: amongst our plans for 2004, when Genoa will be the European capital of culture, are a short history of Genoa and a history of Ligurian culture both of which are a stepping stone towards another high profile project: an in-depth history of Genoa and Liguria. With help and support, especially financial support, the Societa will then be able to properly celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2007.