Talk:Università per Stranieri di Perugia

Italy

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I wrote this stub. My first Wikipedia article, so be gentle ;-). I attended this school last year. It actually made me fluent in Italian in a mere two months after I had spent 1.5 years of study in the States, so I'm quite fond of the place and would like to write a complete article.

The history I listed here is taken from the University's website. I translated it myself, but then found out they have an English-language version of their description (they didn't a year ago, but their website has been changing). I added the note about Mussolini because almost every travel guide says that this school was really founded by Mussolini. I don't know if that's true--they probably just mean it was founded under him. However, I think it's fair to say the original purpose of the school was a bit of propaganda for Italy's "great culture."

Would appreciate any edits, or any discussion on the Talk page. I also didn't do a good job linking the article to other articles... I'll get to that eventually.

Most guides actually refer to this university by a direct translation from Italian, that is, "The University for Foreigners at Perugia." This article was linked from the University of Perugia page, where there is a list of Italian universities.

I don't know how we can do redirects, but we probably need one for that, and also for the actual italian name, "L'Universita per Stranieri di Perugia". --Pixelmonkey 00:16, 16 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I added Saddam Hussein to the list of notable alumni. He is certainly notable and I have no doubt he was an alumnus.

I lived in Perugia for 3 years and studied at the Universita' per Stranieri. For part of this time I lived with an Italian student called Paolo. Paolo was studying a Public Relations course at the University. As one of their assignments, they had to come up with a brief for the re-packaging of the University's image: logo, ethos, history, etc. For the duration of this assignment the students were given unlimited access to the University's archives. It was while delving around there that Paolo discovered that Saddam Hussein had studied at UpS in the late 1950's. This was before well before his part in the 1968 coup that brought him to power in Iraq.

Saddam's biography shows that he joined the socialist Ba'ath Party in 1957, aged 20. At that time Italy was a strongly socialist country and it is perfectly comprehensible that the Ba'athists wished to have members with the requisite language skills to build links with socialist comrades.

While UpS has not specifically verified SH's study at the University, this fact is mentioned in a guide book for new students that is distributed at the UpS itself. I am a co-author of this book and can attest that while the University administration has at times taken issue with various things mentioned in the guide, they have never disputed Saddam Hussein having studied at the University. As the University has nothing to gain from admitting to having had SH as a student - and possibly something to lose given that in hindsight it looks like an error of judgement - I do not expect them to do so publicly. Bilby5 16:47, 19 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Pardonnez-moi, Bilby5, but this information has a lot of weight and it must be carefully verified and evidence must be given about this. Can you reference a book, a newspaper article, or a link to an official page where the results of your colleague research are officially reported? Remember that Wikipedia does not contain (it must not contain!) original research: only documentable facts can be reported. Thus, when you can provide such an information in an affordable way, feel free to add SH and the reference. Thanks. --Cantalamessa 14:12, 20 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I did not say my colleague had done 'officially reported' research. I said he had been given access to the archives in order to better understand the history and development of the university. He showed me some bits of pieces of what interested him. I was shown a photograph of Saddam Hussein sitting in a classroom and did not doubt that it was SH. I had visited the Saddam Hussein museum in Baghdad during a trip to Iraq as a journalist in 1988 and I am quite familiar with SH's appearance at that age in his life. Why don't you write to the University and ask them to verify it if you are so scornful of this? I could add that this same friend of mine also said that Mehmet Ali Agca was an alumnus, but as he did not provide any details I did not change the Wikipedia entry.

And as mentioned above, Saddam Hussein's study at the UpS is documented by "The Little Blue What-To-Do: The Stranger's Guide to Perugia" published by eGeneration, via Fabretti 48, Perugia. There is a page in Italian about the guide at http://www.egeneration.pg.it/en/node/18 This guide is distributed at the UpS itself, a verifiable fact. Just drop in to reception and ask for a copy. Bilby5 15:41, 25 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Well, it is known that Ali Agca studied in Perugia [1], but for SH, honestly, it is a surprise to me. You can put back the information, if you want, by properly citing the source: I cannot check in now at Piazza Grimana. --Cantalamessa 19:40, 25 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]