31 October. Prof Antonino Di Vita, noted archaeologist, former Director of the Italian Archaeological School in Athens, and Member of the Accademia dei Lincei, died in Rome on October 22.

Throughout his long career, Prof Di Vita distinguished himself both as an academic scholar and classicist, and as an antiquities administrator.  A native of Sicily, Di Vita graduated from the University of Catania in 1947. Di Vita was active first as Inspector and then as Director in the Superintendencies of Syracuse and of Etruria. In the 1960s he was advisor to the Libyan government on the antiquities in the Tripoli region.

Prof Di Vita’s academic career started as a lecturer at the University of Palermo (1951-1955); he became a professor in Greek and Roman art history and archaeology at the University of Perugia (1959-1968), then Department Head for Letters and Philosophy and subsequently Rector at the University of Macerata (1970-1977). In 1977, Di Vita accepted the position of Director of the Italian Archaeological School in Athens, residing in Greece until his retirement in 2000. 

Di Vita published widely on a number of sites of Greek and Punic antiquity, including the Acropolis of Athens and the site of Gortyna on the island of Crete, as well as co-founded and directed the journal Libya Antiqua and other publications. His 1998 book Da Siracusa a Mozia (From Syracuse to Mozia) collected some of his most noted essays on Sicilian archaeology. Di Vita lectured in foreign universities in Europe, Australia and Japan, and contributed greatly to the development of NAMEC and to Euromed-ICCROM activities in the 1990s.

Di Vita’s awards and decorations include Grande Ufficiale (1987) and Cavalliere di Gran Croce (1997), from the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, as well as the Gold Medal of Merit for Cultural Heritage, which he received in 1994. He became a Member of the Accademia dei Lincei in 1993. 

Known as the “Father” of the archaeological site of Kamarina, one of the ancient Greek colonies located near Ragusa in southeastern Sicily, near his birthplace, Prof Di Vita was to the end of his life deeply concerned with the site and the problem of coastal erosion that menaced it.

The Director General and staff of ICCROM offer their condolences to his family and colleagues.

updated on: 31 October, 2011