Charles Speroni (1911-1984) was the first chairman of the Department of Italian at UCLA (1949-56), Dean of the College of Fine Arts, UCLA (1968-79), and served as editor of The Italian quarterly. After his retirement in 1979, he founded the Los Angeles Chapter of the Dante Alighieri Society, and was honored with the Alumni Award of Excellence for University Service by the UCLA Alumni Foundation (1984). The collection consists of correspondence, clippings, books, photographs, and miscellaneous printed materials related to Speroni's life and career at UCLA.

Speroni was born in Santa Fiora, Tuscany, on November 2, 1911; BA, UC Berkeley, 1933; Ph.D, Romance languages, UC Berkeley, 1938; married Carmela Corica in 1939; director, U.S. Army special training program for teaching Italian to American soldiers during World War II; first chairman, Department of Italian at UCLA, 1949-56; Dean, College of Fine Arts, UCLA, 1968-79; served as editor of The Italian quarterly; his basic Italian textbook was widely adopted throughout the country; retired from UCLA in 1979; founder of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Dante Alighieri Society; honored with Alumni Award of Excellence for University Service by the UCLA Alumni Foundation, 1984; died on August 28, 1984.

7 boxes (3.5 linear ft.) 4 cartons (4 linear ft.)

Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Advance notice required for access.