The study of Italian language and literature has a long tradition at the University of Cluj. Founded after 1919 on modern principles and with a European academic vocation, the first Italian department in Cluj was part, during the interwar period, of the philology department of the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy at the Romanian University “King Ferdinand I” alongside the departments of classical philology, Romance philology, Romanian, Hungarian, German, French, and English language and literature. The organizer and first head of the department was the renowned Italian linguist Giandomenico Serra (1885-1958), who remained in Cluj between 1920 and 1939. Through his rich teaching and research activity, supported by Italian language lecturers and specialists from Italy and Romania, he created an important school of Italian studies in the cultural capital of Transylvania, which has been operating continuously to this day. 

Students studying Italian language and literature at the Faculty of Letters in Cluj have access to a specialized library for study and professional practice, which includes the great names of Italian language and literature, the most important scientific publications, and, above all, the most modern critical sources. It bears the name of Professor Marian Papahagi (1948-1999), a renowned scholar who initiated the teaching of Italian language and literature as a first specialization in Cluj in 1991, organized the first master’s course in Italian studies, supervised doctoral theses in Italian language and literature, and published numerous works on Italian literature and linguistics. in 1991, the teaching of Italian language and literature as a first specialization, organized the first master’s course in Italian studies, supervised doctorates in Italian language and literature, and founded and headed the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures within the Faculty of Letters, profoundly reforming the Romanian university.

The ”Marian Papahagi” Italian Library

The ”Marian Papahagi” Italian Library (2nd floor, room 207) within the Italian Department, managed by students under the guidance of Delia Morar, provides students and interested teaching staff with approximately 2,500 volumes in Italian, sourced from donations and private funds, as well as from SEED funds. The library’s collection includes literary works, literary criticism, linguistic studies, and books dedicated to Italian literature, language, culture, and civilization. The library is a place of study and practice for students, offering them the opportunity to familiarize themselves with documentary and library science activities.

Erasmus+ partners : Roma Tre University, Sapienza University of Rome, Tor Vergata University of Rome, University of Bologna, University of Padua, University of Pisa, University of Turin, University of Perugia, University of Parma, L’Orientale University of Naples, University of Cagliari, University of Palermo, University of Messina, University of Siena (for Foreigners), University of Macerata, University of Bergamo, University of Salerno.

Members:

Monica Fekete (coordinator of the Italian Language and Literature bachelor’s program, coordinator of the CMM master’s program) 

Officer of the Order of the Star of Italy. Areas of interest: Italian literature (Middle Ages, Renaissance, contemporary era), revisiting the chivalric poem in contemporary prose, the garden in Italian culture and literature, illness in Italian culture and literature, Italian-Romanian cultural relations

email: monica.fekete@ubbcluj.ro

CV  List of publications

Delia Morar

Areas of interest: modern and contemporary Italian literature, comparative literature, theater, and cinema

Email: delia.morar@ubbcluj.ro

CV  List of publications

Mirona Bence-Muk

Areas of interest: Italian linguistics (morphology, syntax, and semantics), translation theory and practice, musical semiotics

Email: mirona.bence@ubbcluj.ro

CV  List of publications

Otilia Ștefania Damian

Areas of interest: Italian literature (Humanism, Renaissance, and the 19th century), Italian-Romanian cultural relations (modern era), translation theory, practice, and history, sectoral languages

Email: otilia.damian@ubbcluj.ro

CV  List of publications

Italian Lecturer: Vito Pilade

Email: vito.pilade@ubbcluj.ro

CV List of Publications

Recent events:

Colloquiums and conferences:

• October 18, 2023 – Raccontare Calvino International Colloquium, Cluj-Napoca, organized in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute in Bucharest, Cluj
• November 2020-June 2021 – Dante 2021 – 700 anni dopo series of international online conferences

Training courses for Italian teachers in Romania:

• L’italiano che cambia: aspetti settoriali, ideologici, di genere. Strategie di scrittura e riscrittura, May 18-24, 2022, Cluj. Trainers: Paolo D’Achille (President of the Accademia della Crusca, Roma Tre University); Claudio Giovanardi (Accademia della Crusca, Roma Tre University); Alberto Manco (Università di Napoli l’Orientale);
• La didattica della lingua e della letteratura in movimento. Metodologia, fonti digitali e piattaforme per una didattica digitalizzata performante, May 4-6, 2023, Cluj. Trainers: Mattia Santipolo (University of Padua) Francesca Malagnini and Floriana Calitti (University for Foreigners of Perugia);
• Creatività e innovazione nella comunicazione scritta e orale. Tecniche discorsive e metodi di produzione scritta, April 3-5, 2025. Trainers: Alessandro Perissinotto (University of Turin), Cristiana De Santis (University of Bologna), Fabio Rossi (University of Messina).

Cultural events:

• Marian Papahagi Award (established by the Italian Cultural Center in Cluj, the Italian Cultural Institute in Bucharest, and Babeș-Bolyai University) – recent editions 2022, 2024.
• Book presentation: Raccontare Calvino, edited by Luigi Tassoni, Milly Curcio, Monica Fekete, Rubbettino, 2024 (in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute in Bucharest), June 4, 2025, Cluj. Speakers: Laura Napolitano, Luigi Tassoni, Monica Fekete, Delia Morar.
• Book presentation: Otilia Battaiola-Meragiu, Illustrated testimonies of Italians who emigrated to Tulcea County / Testimonianze illustrate degli italiani emigrati nella contea di Tulcea, Romania, Ecou Transilvan, 2024 (in collaboration with the Italian Honorary Consulate and Com.It.Es), November 13, 2024, Cluj. Speakers: Massimo Novali, Luigi Calderoni, Otilia Battaiola-Meragiu, Monica Fekete.
• Presentation of the book Milly Curcio, Luigi Tassoni, Leonardo Sciascia. Confessioni di un investigatore (Rubbettino, 2023), Cluj, 2023. With contributions from Milly Curcio, Luigi Tassoni, Monica Fekete.
• Settimana della Lingua Italiana nel Mondo (Italian Language Week in the World), October 2022 – L’italiano e i giovani (Italian and young people(: Alberto Manco (University of Naples L’Orientale), The new language of young people; Vladimiro Bottone (writer), La scrittura creativa e i giovani (Creative writing and young people);
• Exhibition on the occasion of Calvino’s centenary: Italian Excellence: Illustrations for Italo Calvino, Paul Sima Gallery (in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute in Bucharest), October 18-25, 2023.
• Dialogue with writer Erri de Luca, Si staccano così le foglie, i capelli, le gocce, le pagine, November 2022.