Un intellectuel exilé dans la tourmente du Risorgimento : Antonio Ronna, lexicographe et professeur

The lexicographer and teacher Antonio Ronna (1801-1866) is one of those examples of committed intellectuals who took part in the Risorgimento and left their countries not to bend to the Austrian regime. In 1836, thanks to the records left by Biagioli, he completed the Dictionnaire italien-français, français-italien: this was the beginning of an activity that would make him one of the best-known lexicographers of the nineteenth century. In the same year, after a quite brief revision, he resumed the Dictionary of Barberi and published it. It was only in 1858 that, inspired by Biagioli’s works, he published his own dictionary.Not only was Ronna a lexicographer, but also a teacher: his teaching the Italian language together with his constant interest for the French language led him to write educational books, including the Guide de la conversation français-italien (1840 and further editions until the 1873 edition) which is his most important work in this field.