In Memoriam: Dr. Paul Colilli (1952-2018)

 It is with profound sadness that we inform you that Professor Paul Colilli passed away on Wednesday, March 7, 2018.

Paul (B.A., McMaster University; M.A. and Ph.D., University of Toronto) was a highly respected scholar and a vibrant and much loved member of the Italian studies community. He was Professor of Italian Studies at Laurentian University and a regular Visiting Professor at Middlebury College’s Scuola Italiana. In 2012-2013, he was the Emilio Goggio Visiting Professor at the University of Toronto. Paul has written many articles ranging from the Renaissance to Modern Italian literature and thought.

As well, he was the author of numerous scholarly books, including Petrarch’s Allegories of Writing (1988), Poliziano’s Science of Tropes (1989), La poetica dell’aletheia nell’“Africa” del Petrarca (1993), Signs of the Hermetic Imagination(1993), The Idea of the Living Spirit (1997), The Angel’s Corpse (1999), Semiotics as a Bridge between the Sciences and the Humanities (co-ed. 2000), Vico and the Archives of Hermetic Reason (2004), La redenzione delle cose. Saggio sul pensiero poetante di Paolo Valesio (2006), andAgamben and the Signature of Astrology: Spheres of Potentiality (2015). At Laurentian University, Paul was Chair of the Department of Modern Languages (1985-1993, 2000-2001, 2015-present), Dean of Humanities (1993-1997), Dean of Graduate Studies and Research (2001-2004, 2004-2008), and Acting Associate Vice-President, Research and Graduate Studies (2008-09). He was Associate Director of the Italian School at Middlebury College (2006-2013) and Associate Editor of Italica (2014-present). Paul was a very active member of the AATI and a member of the AATI Executive Council for many years.

On behalf of the AATI, we wish to express our sincere condolences to his wife, Professor Diana Iuele-Colilli, and his children Andrea, Julian and Olivia. During this time, our thoughts and prayers are with them all.

With Paul’s passing, we lost a piece of ourselves and a piece of our family. Paul will be greatly missed by all of us.

For information on the funeral arrangements, please see link below:  http://www.lougheedfuneralhomes.com/book-of-memories/3446312/Colilli-Paul/obituary.php

To make a donation to a scholarship foundation established at Laurentian University (Sudbury, ON) in memory of Dr. Paul Colilli, please click on the following PayPal button or you can send a check made payable to “AATI” and send it to AATI Secretary/Treasurer Enza Antenos, 43 Mt. Prospect Avenue, Verona, NJ 07044, USA.