Luigi Tomassini is Professor in Contemporary History and History
of Photography in the Faculty of Preservation of Cultural Heritage,
University of Bologna.
His main line of interest is directed towards the theme of the
Great War, as a moment of radical transformation of the
contemporary Italian society: especially the issue of relations
between the military, industrial entrepreneurs, and workers, during
the war. He participated in this field at many international
conferences, published numerous essays in books and in foreign
qualified magazines. Also within this line of research, he has
recently addressed the issue of the birth of the first public
centralized organization of scientific research in Italy (CNR),
with a comparative perspective, and with first-hand research in
various archives and libraries of Europe. One other topic of
research in which he worked is the history of associations is
popular in Italy in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, even in
a comparative perspective and as part of research conducted by the
International Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis Amsterdam.
He studied with continuity also the history of photography as a
means of visual communication, and the relationship between history
and iconographic sources. He is concerned of the potential of new
technologies for the historians, editing a volume on "History and
Computer" at the publisher Bruno Mondadori in 1996 followed by
several essays in books and academic journals.
Participated as chairman or speaker at numerous conferences in
Italy and abroad, about the relationship between photography and
history and the impact of new technology on photography as a
cultural heritage. In 2000-2001 he plans and constitutes
a departmental Photographic Laboratory at the Department of
History and Methods for Conservation of Cultural Heritage in
Ravenna, of which he is still Director. Published numerous essays
on the history of photography, on photography as documentation tool
for cultural heritage in Italy and other European countries.
He is Chairman of the “Ricerche Storiche e Archeologia Industriale”
society, who is the publisher of the journal “Ricerche Storiche”.
He is also co-editor of the Journal “Memoria e Ricerca”. He
is President of the Italian Society for the Study of Photography
(SISF, www.sisf.eu), Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the
“Archivio Fotografico Toscano”, member of the
Scientific Committee of the Museum of the History of Photography
“Fratelli Alinari”, codirector of "AFT – Rivista di storia e
fotografia”, national coordinator of the discussion list
"S-fotografie".
He is President of the Degree Course in Conservation of Cultural
Heritage at the Faculty of Preservation of Cultural Heritage,
University of Bologna.
