Lamberto Borghi
Lamberto Borghi was born in January 1907 in Livorno, near Cento, Italy, where his grandfather was a rabbi. He graduated in 1929 from the University of Pisa with a degree in philosophy. In 1935 he wrote his PhD thesis on “The Humanistic Conception of Coluccio Salutati,” followed soon by a well-received book about Erasmus’ contributions to humanism.
He taught history and philosophy in Urbino, La Spezia, and finally Pisa, where he was laid off in 1938 in the wake of Italy's anti-semitic laws. In 1940 he escaped Italy; he had hoped to then continue his studies in France, but Hitler’s invasion forced him to flee Europe. He had to travel ahead of his pregnant wife and their young child, whom he hoped would all be able to follow him from their hiding place in the village of Abruzzo. Although Borghi was able to leave Italy safely, nearly all of his colleagues in Pisa were imprisoned on either racial or political grounds. “I often feel ashamed of my good fortune when so many of my friends are in concentration camps today,” he observed sadly to the Vassar Miscellany.
Borghi came to Vassar College in October 1940 after spending several months in New England with the American Friends Service Committee. He spent two week at Vassar lecturing to Italian and philosophy classes while seeking longer-term employment in the US. From 1941 to 1948 he taught philosophy, Italian, and history at several American colleges before returning to Italy to teach pedagogy in universities in Palermo, Turin, and Florence. While working in the field of education and pedagogy, he produced dozens of books and articles about libertarian education until his death in 2000.
Sources:
"Borghi, Italian Scholar, Finds Peace and High Intellectual Level in America." Vassar Miscellany News 26 Oct. 1940: 1. Vassar Newspaper Archives. Web.
Borghi, Lamberto. Perspectives in Primary Education. The Hague: Nijhoff, 1974. Print.
"Lamberto Borghi." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Dec. 2016. Web. 10 Jan. 2017.
"Lamberto Borghi, Humanist Authority, Spends Two Weeks Here." Vassar Miscellany News 19 Oct. 1940: 1. Vassar Newspaper Archives. Web.