University of Messina

Infobox_University
name =University of Messina
native_name =Università degli Studi di Messina
latin_name =Universitas Studiorum Messanae


motto =
established =1548
type =State-supported
endowment =
staff =
rector =Prof. Francesco Tomasello
students =40,000
undergrad =
postgrad =
doctoral =
city =Messina
country =Italy
campus =
free_label =Sports teams
free =CUS Messina
affiliations =
website = [http://www.unime.it/ www.unime.it/]
logo =The University of Messina (Italian: "Università degli Studi di Messina", UNIME) is a university located in Messina, Italy, and founded in 1548. The university is organized in 11 Faculties.

History

The University of Messina has an old cultural and educational tradition, going back to the end of thirteenth century when a school of law was founded. In the seventeenth century people such as Giovanni Alfonso Borelli, Pietro Castelli, Giovan Battista Cortesi, Carlo Fracassati, Giacomo Gallo, Mario Giurba, Marcello Malpighi and Francesco Maurolico were at the university but in 1678 it was closed because of the revolution against the Spaniards.

The University was refounded in 1838 by King Ferdinand II. In 1847 as result of the antiborbonic revolution of the city, the University was again closed and reopened after two years, with restrictions to students from regions other than Sicily.

The earthquake in 1908 destroyed a great part of the University including its famous library and scientific equipment. But only a year later in 1909 the Faculty of Law was reopened. The Faculties of Science, Pharmacy and Medicine reopened in the years 1914/15.

Organization

The university is divided into eleven faculties, those of
Economics, Education, Engineering, Humanities, Law, Sciences, Medicine and Surgery, Pharmacy, Political Sciences, Statistics and Veterinary Medicine.

Currently the University has nearly 40.000 undergraduate students.

The University occupies four main sites in Messina, its central Administration Buildings and four Faculties (Economics, Political Science, Law, Education) are in the centre of Messina. The [http://poli.unime.it/ Campus Policlinico] situated in the south of Messina, houses the Faculty of Medicine, while the Faculties of Sciences and Engineering are in the Campus Papardo (Northern zone) overlooking the famous Strait of Messina and the three newly created natural reserves (one of them is Capo Peloro). A further northern University location is in the Annunziata academic buildings where the Faculties of Veterinary Medicine, Pharmacy and Humanities are. This site is in the Annunziata zone (contrada Citola) not far from the City centre.

Mafia infiltration

The University of Messina was turned into a private fiefdom by the 'Ndrangheta clan headed by Giuseppe Morabito for more than 25 years. The clan ordered that degrees, academic posts and influence be awarded to favoured associates. Friends or relatives of politicians were the beneficiaries whom the clan wished to cultivate. Before a police crackdown in June 2001, two professors had been kneecapped by unknown assailants, four bombs exploded in university buildings and the cars of several academics were set on fire. Lecturers were threatened before examinations by students claiming Mafia backing. [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/1371355/Crackdown-at-univeristy-run-by-Mafia-for-25-years.html Crackdown at univeristy run by Mafia for 25 years] , Daily Telegraph, June 19, 2001]

An investigation was launched when a lecturer in medicine, Matteo Bottari, was murdered in January 1998. Police accused his academic colleague, Giuseppe Longo, of having ordered the killing after a dispute over crooked contracts for furniture and equipment. According to an university source, who refused to be named, said: "Threats and the possibility of violence were always in the background here. This has been like no other university in Europe."

Points of interest

* Orto Botanico "Pietro Castelli" dell'Università di Messina

See also

* List of Italian universities
* Messina

References

External links

*it icon [http://www.unime.it/ University of Messina Website]