Loss and Reconstruction of an Archive. The Ettore Cozzani Case

Abstract

This essay aims to reconstruct the history of Ettore Cozzani’s archive, which was believed to have been totally destroyed during the Second World War. It maps what remains, however, in the Lombard Academy of Sciences and Letters and on the antique market. Finally, it reflects on the meaning that Cozzani attributed to his archive and on his attempts to reconstruct it, both materially and through autobiographical writing.