Professors knighted by Italian government

In a ceremony last month held at Prospect House, Frassica and Marrone-Puglia were granted the title of “Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic” by Italian consul Andrea Barbaria.

The award, created in 1951, is the highest-ranking in Italy and is awarded on the basis of contributions to Italian literature, arts, economy, public service, and social, philanthropic and humanitarian activities.

“I was very proud with this honor, especially because [Georgio Napolitano] is a man of great moral standing … and is one of the most admired presidents of the Italian Republic,” Marrone-Puglia said. “He chooses very few nominees to sign every year, so it was very special to me.”

She noted that while she has been “privileged” throughout her time at the University to teach and to research subjects she is passionate about, it has not been an easy journey.

“When I came to Princeton from Northwestern, nobody would have bet a dime that I would be given tenure,” Marrone-Puglia said. “At the time, it was difficult for women, particularly an Italianist, since we do not have a graduate program.”

Marrone-Puglia explained that during the ceremony, she learned that she was the first female recipient of the award that Barbaria had bestowed. Though the Italian name for the award is grammatically masculine, different pins and medals are now made for female winners.

Despite the hurdles she has faced, Marrone-Puglia added that the University has played a significant role in her success.

“I believe this honor also recognizes the vision of this university,” she said. “It has been one of the pleasures of my life to have been given the chance to represent and promote Italian culture.”

Marrone-Puglia, a University faculty member since 1985, currently serves on the committees of the Program in Film Studies and the Program in the Study of Women and Gender. She specializes in modern Italian literature and postwar Italian cinema, and her principal publications also focus on social-cultural and gender studies.

She has written and edited numerous volumes and received the $5,000 Fondazione Rubbettino First Prize in 2008 for her work on editing the two-volume Encyclopedia of Italian Studies.

Marrone-Puglia has also produced award-winning films such as “Images of a University,” a documentary about Princeton’s intellectual and social history, and “Zefirino: The Voice of a Castrato,” which is based on the senior thesis performance of Anthony Costanzo ’04, a dramatic portrayal of a fictional opera singer who was castrated before puberty.

Frassica has been a member of the University faculty since 1976 and now serves as the French and Italian department’s associate chair. The author and editor of several award-winning books and more than 80 published articles on almost every century of Italian literary history, he has focused his research on Renaissance-era Italian literature, interdisciplinary relations between literary and visual traditions during the 18th century, contemporary literature, theater and gastronomy in literature.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

He was awarded the 2006 Val di Comino Prize for his work “Variants and Invariants in Evoked Themes,” written in 2004. The Italian government also appointed Frassica as an editor of the national edition of the works of Italian writer Giuseppe Parini, which examines the relationship between Parini’s poetry and the visual arts.

Frassica could not be reached for comment.