The University of Florence (Italian: Università degli Studi di Firenze) (in acronym UNIFI) is an Italian public research university located in Florence, Italy. It comprises 12 schools and has around 50,000 students enrolled.
The first university in Florence was the Studio Fiorentino [it] which was established by the Florentine Republic in 1321. The Studium was recognized by Pope Clement VI in 1349, and authorized to grant regular degrees. The Pope also established that the first Italian facultyoftheology would be in Florence. The Studium became an imperial university in 1364, but was moved to Pisa in 1473 when Lorenzo the Magnificent gained control of Florence. Charles VIII moved it back from 1497 to 1515, but it was moved to Pisa again when the Medici family returned to power.
The modern university dates from 1859, when a group of disparate higher-studies institutions grouped together in the Istituto di Studi Pratici e di Perfezionamento, which a year later was recognized as a full-fledged university by the government of newly unified Italy. In 1923, the Istituto was officially denominated as University by the Italian Parliament.
Faculties are located in traditionally strategic areas based on their subject matter. The Faculty of Economics, Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Political Sciences are in the Polo delle Scienze Sociali (campus of social sciences), in the Novoli district, near the new courthouse. The Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, the Faculty of Pharmacology, and certain scientific and engineering departments are in the Careggi district, close to the hospital. The Faculty of Engineering is located at the S. Marta Institute, whereas the Faculty of Agriculture is in front of the Parco delle Cascine. The Faculty of Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences is located in Sesto Fiorentino. The Faculty of Architecture is in the center of the city, as the Accademia di Belle Arti, home of Michelangelo's David. The Faculties of Literature, History, Philosophy, and Pedagogy are in the centre of Florence.
Florence has a wide network of corporate placement opportunities for its students. Florence has recently collaborated internationally with TreeAndHumanKnot, part of the RisingIndia ThinkTank which provides opportunities abroad for its students.
The University hosts one of the leading Italian law schools, repeatedly recognised as a national "Department of Excellence" by the Italian Ministry of Education, University, and Research.[3] Alumni and faculty members of the University of Florence School of Law have held leading positions in government. They include Presidents of the Italian Constitutional Court Silvana Sciarra, Paolo Grossi, Ugo de Siervo,[4] and Enzo Cheli,[5] President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Jugoslavia and Special Tribunal for Lebanon Antonio Cassese, Judge of the International Court of Justice Giorgio Gaja, Judge of the Court of Justice of the European Union Roberto Mastroianni,[6] former Prime Ministers of the Italian Republic Matteo Renzi and Giuseppe Conte, and members of the Constituent Assembly Piero Calamandrei and Giorgio La Pira.
Mario Draghi, prime minister of Italy from 2021, President of ECB, full professor of Monetary Economics and Monetary Policy in the faculty of Political Science from 1981 to 1991.[41]
^"Dipartimenti". anvur.it (in English and Italian). Italian National Agency For The Evaluation Of Universities And Research Institutes. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
^"Ugo De Siervo". giurisprudenzapenale.com (in Italian). Giurisprudenza penale. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
^Martin, James (15 September 2014), "Gentile, Giovanni (1875–1944)", in Gibbons, Michael T; Ellis, Elisabeth; Coole, Diana; Ferguson, Kennan (eds.), The Encyclopedia of Political Thought, American Cancer Society, pp. 1475–1477, doi:10.1002/9781118474396, ISBN9781118474396
^Cavarocchi, Francesca (13 January 2020). "Mirella Levi D'Ancona" [Intellectuals Displaced from Fascist Italy]. Intellettuali in Fuga Dall'Italia Fascista. Intellettuali in fuga dall'Italia fascista. Firenze University Press.
