University of Perugia

One of the "free" universities of Italy, it was erected into a studium generale on September 8, 1308, by the Bull "Super specula" of Clement V. A school of arts existed by about 1200, in which medicine and law were soon taught, with a strong commitment expressed by official documents of the City Council of Perugia. Before 1300 there were several universitates scholiarum. Jacobus de Belviso, a famous civil jurist, taught here from 1316 to 1321. By Bull on August 1, 1318, John XXII granted the privilege of conferring degrees in civil and canon law, and on February 18, 1321, in medicine and arts.

On May 19, 1355, the Emperor Charles IV issued a Bull confirming the papal erection and raising it to the rank of an imperial university. This unusual mark of favour was given to assist Perugia after the terrible plague years 1348–49. In 1362 the Collegium Gregorianum (later called the Sapienza vecchia) was founded by Cardinal Nicolò Capocci for the maintenance of forty youths. Gregory XI, by Brief of October 11, 1371, gave the privileges of a studium generale to the new faculty of theology. This faculty was suppressed and its property merged in the university in 1811. To this foundation the Sapienza nuova was transferred in 1829. The latter was founded by Benedetto Guidalotti, Bishop of Recanati in 1426, with Martin V's approval, as the Collegio di S. Girolamo. It was a free hostel for impecunious strangers who wished to study law and medicine. Suppressed by the French in 1798, it was reopened in 1807 by Pius VII as the Collegio Pio. In the Constitution of August 27, 1824, Leo XII made this the chief college of the university.

With the unification of Italy in 1860 the University of Perugia was established under the jurisdiction of the Rector and the Town Council, who issued statutes subject to approval by the Government. From 1944 to the present, the University of Perugia has achieved an outstanding reputation as one of the leading universities in Italy.

Since the time of Napoleon I the university has occupied the old Olivetan convent of Monte Morcino. There was a faculty of mathematics down to 1884. The statutes are modelled upon those of Bologna. The number of students at different dates were: 142 in 1339, 79 in 1881, 350 in 1911.

With its 16 faculties and a vast selection of first and second level and single cycle degree programs, the University of Perugia offers its main courses in Perugia and Terni, and specialized programs throughout the Umbria region in the cities of Assisi, Foligno, and Narni.

The faculties into which the university is divided are:

• Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Science
• Faculty of Chemistry, Biology and Biotechnology
• Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Faculty of Economics
• Faculty of Engineering
• Faculty of Experimental Medicine
• Faculty of Humanities, Social and Human Sciences and Education
• Faculty of Law
• Faculty of Liberal Arts - Languages, Literature and Ancient and Modern Civilization
• Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science
• Faculty of Medicine
• Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Faculty of Physics and Geology
• Faculty of Political Science
• Faculty of Surgical and Biomedical Sciences
• Faculty of Veterinary Medicine

Its research programs are conducted by 29 departments with a total of 1,200 full-time staff. The University's activities also include 25 service organizations and research centers as well as 11 libraries with rich collections and equipment. It had a total enrolment of over 31,000 students for the 2004–2005 academic year.

• Rector Prof. Maurizio Oliviero
• Prorector Prof. Fausto Elisei
• Deputy Rectors
  • Prof. Luca Bartocci[5]
  • Prof. Paolo Belardi[6]
  • Prof. Stefano Brancorsini[7]
  • Prof. Gabriele Cruciani[8]
  • Prof. Fausto Elisei[9]
  • Prof.ssa Carla Emiliani[10]
  • Prof. Daniele Porena[11]
  • Prof. Roberto Rettori[12]
  • Prof.ssa Stefania Stefanelli[13]
  • Prof. Mario Tosti[14]
  • Prof. Helios Vocca[15]

• Orto Botanico dell'Università di Perugia, the university's botanical garden

Among its eminent teachers were:

• Luca Pacioli, father of accounting
• Jacobus de Belviso, jurist
• Johannes Andreas, canonist
• Cino da Pistoia, (1270-1336), poet and jurist
• Bartolus de Saxoferrato, (1314–27), famous civil jurist
• Baldus de Ubaldis, (its figure is represented on all diplom certificates)
• Gentile da Foligno, physician
• Albericus Gentilis, founder of the science of international law
• Francesco della Rovere Pope (Sixtus IV)
• Annibale Mariotti, physician
• Annibale Vecchi, pharmacist
• Domenico Bruschi, botanist
• Bernardo Dessau, physicist
• Giuseppe Antinori, arcadian and classicist
• Francesco Coppola, politician

Among its students were:

• Nicholas IV
• Gregory XI
• Innocent VII
• Martin V
• Pius III
• Julius II
• Julius III
• Urban VII
• Gregory XIV
• Clement VIII
• Paul V
• Ruggero Oddi, physician
• Michaëlle Jean, former Governor General of Canada and current Secretary-General of La Francophonie
• Monica Bellucci, actress
• Suze Rotolo
• Pier Paolo Pandolfi

• List of Italian universities
• List of medieval universities
• Perugia

• Official website (in Italian and English)
• Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "University of Perugia" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.