The Years of the Rectorship

Angelo Sraffa was appointed Rector at the end of the Great War. He was responsible for continuing Leopoldo Sabbatini’s legacy — who died prematurely in 1914 — resuming the project to update the University's teaching system. His innovative work focused on several fronts and his organizational skills continued to be valued even after his resignation from the position of Rector, when he was called to be part of the University Board.

The initiatives promoted by Sraffa followed different directions, including: renewing the teaching structures, appointing the first internal Full Professors, establishing the first research institutes — the Institute of Economics and the Institute of Technical-Business Research and Accounting — starting the University’s internationalization process and creating the largest economics library in Italy.

However, his work was hampered by the increasingly difficult political climate, especially starting in 1922, when Sraffa was the object of a violent attack by fascist militant and ex-servicemen students, who accused him of having taken discriminatory educational measures against veterans. The already tense relations with the regime were not destined to improve and the situation degenerated to the point of forcing the Rector to resign in 1926, in an attempt to protect the University from the consequences of his firm anti-fascism.