Mazzoni was very close to his university students, helping them in their careers long after they
had graduated. They returned his affection, sending him reprints of their own writings, and
inscribing them with grateful or sometimes humorous notes to
their former professor. In 1901, Guido Mazzoni wrote the
lyrics to this patriotic song, "Students from the Trentino."
The Trentino was an intensely politicized region in
northernmost Italy whose ownership was contested by Italy and
Austria. Not much later it became the stage for the bloodiest
battles of World War I, where many of Mazzoni's own beloved
students died. He kept their handwritten college theses, with
a brief note on the cover about when, where, and how the
student died.
A project of The Digital Scriptorium, Special
Collections Library, Duke University. December
1996
http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/mazzoni/exhibit/
