Nicola Zingarelli was born in Cerignola (Foggia) on 28 August 1860 (although the official documents show the date of 31 August), the second son of Girolamo, a tailor, and Teresa Longo. He received his elementary education in his native city, then moved to Naples for high school studies (his partner was Salvatore Di Giacomo among others) and university.

Initially enrolled in the Faculty of Law, he moved on to the Faculty of Letters discussing his thesis on Words and forms of the “Divine Comedy” alien to the Florentine dialect, on June 29, 1882. The work was published two years later in the first issue of Studi di filologia romanza (I [1884], pp. 1-202), directed by Ernesto Monaci. Having embarked on the path of high school teaching, in the winter semester of 1884-85 he attended, thanks to a scholarship, the University of Breslau, then in Berlin.

Returning to Italy, in August 1885 he hosted Adolf Gaspary in Cerignola: on that occasion it was decided to translate the German scholar’s History of Italian Literature, the first volume of which was published two years later (Turin 1887). As a teacher he lived in Palermo, then in Campobasso, Ferrara and Naples. In 1869 he founded with Erasmo Pèrcopo the Rassegna critica della letteratura italiana, which he directed for the entire duration of its publications (1896-1925); in the same year he obtained the free teaching in comparative history of neo-Latin literature, approaching his university career, with the encouragement of Francesco D’Ovidio.

In December 1901 he won the competition at the University of Palermo and became a full professor in 1906. He remained in Palermo until 1916, the year of his transfer to the Scientific-Literary Academy of Milan where he occupied the chair of Neo-Latin languages and literatures.

The publication of the Vocabolario della lingua italiana dates back to 1917, which was published by the publishers Bietti and Reggiani in Milan and from 1922 in a single volume. In March 1923 he became a full member of the R. Lombard Institute of Sciences and Letters; on 1 July of that year he also obtained, on a ministerial initiative, the appointment as an academician of the Crusca. From 1925 he directed (again for Romance literature) and collaborated with the Italian Encyclopedia founded by Giovanni Treccani. In 1931, succeeding Michele Scherillo, he moved on to teach Italian literature.

He died in Milan on 7 June 1935.

You can consult the death certificate on the Ancestors Portal: State Archives of Milan > Italian > Civil Status Milan> Deaths > 1935

The birth certificate is also available on the Ancestors Portal: State Archives of Foggia > Civil Status of the Cerignola > Restoration > Born > 1860

The originals are preserved respectively at the State Archives of Foggia (birth certificate) and the State Archives of Milan (death certificate).

For further information on the figure of Nicola Zingarelli, see the entry in the Biographical Dictionary of Italians edited by Massimiliano Corrado.