Skip to Main Content

Treccano Instituto

Treccani.it is the official website of the Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana. The Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana was founded in 1925 by the businessman and philanthropist Giovanni Treccani. His project was to publish the large Enciclopedia italiana di scienze, lettere ed arti (appearing in 35 volumes, 1929-1937, updated with appendices to the present day) and the Dizionario biografico degli italiani.  Both of these works were lacking in Italy at the time. From 1925 to 1943 the scholarly supervisor of the Istituto was philosopher Giovanni Gentile. Included among the rich list of publications are encyclopaedic-lexicographic works (from the Dizionario enciclopedico italiano, 1955-61 to La Piccola Treccani, 1995-97), a vast range of Italian dictionaries, works of historical-literary scope (Enciclopedia dantesca, Enciclopedia virgiliana, Enciclopedia oraziana, Federico II. Enciclopedia fridericiana). Since 1975 the Istituto has produced specialized encyclopaedias on various fields such as art, archaeology, the social sciences, law, cinema, fashion, sport, the human body, the life sciences and the history of cities (Storia di Milano, Storia di Venezia), in addition to art books (Pompeii, Venezia, Firenze).

You can find part of Treccani's encyclopaedic resources, videos, articles and a community with forum and interactive utilities such as comments, tags, bookmarks, 'send to a friend', 'suggest to Treccani' neologisms, synonyms, personalities from the past or the present to be added  to the Encyclopaedia.

Treccani Online Resources