30 luglio 2008

IN MEMORIA DI JOHN M. CAMMETT

E' morto John M. Cammett
E' morto ieri, mercoledì 30 luglio, a New York John M. Cammett, storico e decano degli studi gramsciani negli Stati Uniti. Era stato alla fine degli anni Ottanta tra i promotori e i fondatori della International Gramsci Society.
Autore della prima monografia su Gramsci in lingua inglese (Antonio Gramsci and the Origins of Italian Communism, Stanford University Press, 1967), negli anni Novanta Cammett era divenuto famoso in tutto il mondo come autore della citatissima Bibliografia gramsciana, oggi disponibile on line e aggiornata a cura della Fondazione Gramsci, dove per primo raccolse migliaia di titoli di opere di e soprattutto su Gramsci in decine di lingue. La prima versione della Bibliografia gramsciana di Cammett, presentata nel 1989 al convegno di Formia su "Gramsci nel mondo" conteneva 6mila titoli in 26 lingue (sono oggi 17mila in 40 lingue).
Laureatosi alla Columbia University, non senza aver maturato precedentemente una mai rinnegata esperienza di operaio e militante sindacale a Detroit, Cammett ha

insegnato a lungo presso il John Jay College della City University of New York. Protagonista e ispiratore di tutte le principali iniziative della Igs dalla sua nascita, lascia in tutti noi un dolore e una tristezza profondi. A lui va il nostro ringraziamento per tutto quello che ha fatto e ci ha saputo insegnare.

It is with the deepest sadness that we communicate to fellow IGS members the news we have just received about one of our most wonderful colleagues and treasured friends. John M. Cammett, a distinguished historian, Italianist, and most renowned Gramsci scholar in the United States, died yesterday in New York. A founding member of the International Gramsci Society, John Cammett has worked indefatigably since the 1980s to promote the IGS.
Cammett was the author of the first book-long study on Gramsci in the English language: Antonio Gramsci and the Origins of Italian Communism (Stanford University Press, 1967). In the 1990s Cammett came to be known the world over for his comprehensive Bibliografia gramsciana which cataloged and described thousands of books and articles on Gramsci (as well as works by Gramsci) in numerous languages. The first edition of Cammett’s meticulous bibliography was presented at the International Gramsci Congress that was held in Formia in 1989 – it listed 6,000 titles in 26 languages. The bibliography, continuously updated by the Fondazione Gramsci, has grown to 17,000 titles in 40 languages, and is now also readily available on line.
John Cammett was active in labor politics and the trade union movement well before completing his studies at Columbia University. For most of his academic career he was a professor of History at John Jay College of the City Univ. of New York, where he also served for many years as dean. Cammett was also a member of the faculty of the Graduate School of CUNY.
John Cammett inspired all the major initiatives of the IGS and was the major driving force behind its growth. He leaves us with an enormous debt of gratitude for all he taught us and enabled us to achieve. We mourn his loss with the most profound sadness.