Emilia Giancotti

Well-known at the international level as the author of the famous Lexicon Spinozanum (The Hague, 1970), Emilia Giancotti (Reggio Calabria 1930-Rome 1992) was a moving force in the rebirth of Spinoza studies in Italy through her efforts in the fields of translation and commentary of the Dutch philosopher, first with the revision of the Droetto translation of the Theologico-Political Treatise (Turin: 1972) and then with the translation and commentary of The Ethics (Rome: 1988). We are also indebted to her for the foundation, in 1987, along with Paolo Cristofolini and Filippo Mignini, of the “Italian Association of the Friends of Spinoza” (Associazione Italiana degli Amici di Spinoza), of which she was first president. She was a tireless organizer of colloquiums, conferences and seminars, amongst which the first international conference on Spinoza in Italy “Spinoza in the 350th anniversary of his birth” (Spinoza nel 350° anniversario della nascita) in Urbino from the 4th-8th October 1982, and the “Hobbes and Spinoza: Science and Politics” conference on the occasion of Hobbes’ 400-year anniversary (Hobbes è Spinoza: scienza e politica) held in Urbino from the 14th to the 17th October, 1988. From the first year of its foundation onwards, she was part of the scientific committee of the journal Studia Spinozana, for which she edited, along with Manfred Walther and Alexandre Matheron, the first volume of 1985: “Spinoza’s Philosophy of Society”.