Obituary: Emeritus Prof Giulio Ciro Lepschy FBA (1935-2026)

The University of Reading records with profound sadness the death of Giulio Ciro Lepschy, a distinguished linguist and scholar of Italian, Fellow of the British Academy, and Accademico ordinario of the Accademia della Crusca.

He was Emeritus Professor of Italian at Reading and Honorary Professor at UCL and the University of Toronto. He died in London on 8 February 2026 at the age of 91.

Born in Venice on 14 January 1935, Professor Lepschy was educated at the University of Pisa and the Scuola Normale Superiore before embarking on an academic career that would leave a lasting mark on Italian linguistics in the United Kingdom and internationally.

After contracts at the universities of Zurich, Paris, Oxford and London, he joined the University of Reading in 1964 as Lecturer in Italian, was appointed Professor of Italian in 1975, and served the University with distinction until his retirement in 1997.

In retirement, as Emeritus Professor, for some years he remained a participant in the intellectual life of the institution he had helped to shape.

This loss comes in a year of celebration for the University: as we mark the centenary of the University of Reading and celebrate 60 years of linguistics teaching and research at Reading, it is particularly fitting to acknowledge the central role Professor Lepschy played in establishing the University’s reputation as a leading centre for linguistic scholarship.

A scholar of both classical and modern languages, he combined philological depth with theoretical sophistication, and his work contributed significantly to the international standing of linguistics at Reading.

At the University, Professor Lepschy worked in close partnership with Professor Luigi Meneghello, founder of Italian Studies at Reading, celebrated writer, and former resistance fighter. Their collaboration consolidated and strengthened the discipline, shaping a distinctive interdisciplinary ethos that continues to characterise Italian Studies at Reading today. Their friendship was intellectually fertile and personally enduring.

Professor Lepschy’s profound engagement with linguistics and the history of language informed Professor Meneghello’s literary imagination, especially his exploration of Italian vernaculars and the dynamic relationship between dialect and standard Italian, an interplay that became central to Professor Meneghello’s work.

An internationally respected scholar, Professor Lepschy made foundational contributions to structural linguistics, the history of linguistics, and contemporary Italian language studies.

His numerous publications - among them A Survey of Structural Linguistics (1970) and, with Anna Laura Lepschy, The Italian Language Today (1977; 1988) - are marked by analytical clarity and historical breadth and remain essential points of reference in the field.

He also played a major role in advancing the historiography of linguistics as editor of the five-volume History of Linguistics (Longman, 1994-1998). His scholarship on Italian was distinguished by its integration of wide-ranging sociolinguistic perspectives with close attention to phonology and syntax.

In 1987, he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in recognition of his exceptional contributions to the humanities.

In 2000, he received the Academy’s Serena Medal for his ‘eminent services towards the advancement of the study of Italian history, philosophy, literature, and related fields’.

Professor Lepschy was admitted to the distinguished Accademia della Crusca - the leading academy dedicated to the study of the Italian language and philology - in 1991, and in 2010 he was appointed Accademico ordinario.

As a teacher and doctoral supervisor, Professor Lepschy was rigorous, principled, and deeply committed to high intellectual standards. He demanded seriousness of purpose, academic integrity, and meticulous engagement with primary and secondary sources.

Yet his intellectual brilliance was accompanied by a lively and infectious curiosity. Students recall how an apparently minor slip of the tongue in a seminar might become the starting point for a wide-ranging and wonderfully animated exploration of meaning, sound, and prosody, transforming a moment of error into a memorable, interactive lecture. Through such moments he demonstrated not only the precision of linguistic analysis but also its joy.

Professor Lepschy’s legacy endures in the strength of Italian Studies at Reading, in the University’s international reputation in linguistics, and in the generations of students and scholars shaped by his example.

His loss is mourned not only within our own institution but across Europe and beyond, a reflection of the wide geographical reach of his generous mentorship and scholarly influence.

He is survived by his wife, Anna Laura Momigliano Lepschy, and will be remembered with gratitude, admiration, and deep affection by colleagues, students, and friends.

By Professor Daniela La Penna, Head of School, Humanities