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Renato Poggioli (1907–1963) - Scholar

Born in Florence, he was a specialist in Comparative Literature.

In 1938 Poggioli, who wished to leave Italy, came to the United States. In the fall of 1938 Poggioli was hired as a visiting lecturer in Romance language and literatures at Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, where he gave a course in Dante. The following year he became Assistant Professor of Italian Literature teaching graduate students at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

He became involved in anti-Fascist initiatives that led in 1939 to the creation of the Mazzini Society, of which he also served as interim president. His teaching had an interruption from 1943–45 when he served in the United States Army as a translator.

He died in California in a car accident.