Archivio Bergamasco

Archivio Bergamasco (formally Archivio Bergamasco Centro studi e ricerche bibliografiche e documentarie – Organizzazione di Volontariato) is a non-profit study and research centre based in Bergamo, Italy. Founded on 27 November 1979 by a group of young scholars, it is dedicated to the study of the history of Bergamo and its province through rigorous examination of documentary sources. The association operates as a voluntary organization within Italy's Third Sector (Terzo settore), governed by its own statute and regulated under Italian law (D.lgs. 117/2017). The centre's mission is to promote and develop studies on the history of Bergamo and its province, covering institutions and society, culture and art, environment and landscape. It collaborates with public bodies, universities, libraries and archives, and combines scholarly research with public dissemination. Its activities include publishing the annual journal «Quaderni di Archivio Bergamasco», conference proceedings and monographs; managing scholarships for young researchers; and organizing study days, training and refresher courses, lecture series and concerts. Archivio Bergamasco is recognized in Bergamo's cultural world for the quality of its work. As it approaches its 50th anniversary in 2029, the association has grown in membership — around seventy members — and strengthened its organizational structure. Members include people dedicated to historical research, volunteers who provide essential services, and individuals and institutions that support the centre's activities through annual fees. All members enjoy equal rights, preferential prices on publications, and receive the annual «Strenna» free of charge. The association has its legal headquarters in the municipality of Bergamo and has unlimited duration. It collaborates with the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities, the Lombardy Region, the Province of Bergamo and the Municipality of Bergamo, as well as regional and provincial school offices, local authorities, universities, libraries, archives, institutes and associations, both national and foreign, to strengthen skills, information exchange and research opportunities.

Archivio Bergamasco was founded in Bergamo on 27 November 1979 by notarial act of Carlo Leidi (1930-1998). The founding group consisted of young scholars — Paolo Berlanda, Paolo Borella, Giulio Orazio Bravi, Roberto Galati, Giorgio Mangini, Susanna Pesenti, Gianluca Piccinini and Giuseppe Tognon — who came predominantly from studies in philosophy and the history of thought. This background stimulated their interest in methodological and cognitive questions specific to local historical research. Perceiving the inadequacy of a purely anecdotal and compilative local history, they set the objective of researching and discovering in documented facts the reasons for changes and continuities, analogies and differences, and peculiarities, through dialectical comparison — always conducted on documents, texts and bibliography — between local reality and general historical developments. The association's early activity included the publication of its first volume and the launch of its journals. On 28 February 1981, in the Sala dell'Archivio di Stato in Bergamo, president Giuseppe Tognon introduced the presentation of a volume by Jörg Jarnut, with Cinzio Violante and Jörg Jarnut present; among those in the front row was Mario De Grazia, director of the State Archive. Over the decades, Archivio Bergamasco has grown into a recognized cultural institution in Bergamo. It publishes the annual journal «Quaderni di Archivio Bergamasco», conference proceedings and monographs; manages scholarships for young researchers; and organizes study days, training and refresher courses, lecture series and concerts. Its «Fonti e temi di storia locale» lecture series reached its XXVIII edition for 2025-2026, with eleven meetings held at Spazio Viterbi from October 2025 to June 2026, free of charge. Recent publications include the 2025 Strenna «La musica degli angeli e la danza dei santi» by Elena Bugini on Lorenzo Lotto's Pala di Santo Spirito; the second volume of the «Scrittori bergamaschi» series, Angelo Mazzi's «Le guerre civili del 1226-1229 e la Società del Popolo», edited by Roberta Svanoni and Giulio Orazio Bravi; and Matteo Patelli's volume «Esporre l'avanguardia in provincia» on visual art events in Martinengo between 1966 and 1968, in the Borsa Cicolari series. Issue no. 19 of «Quaderni di Archivio Bergamasco» was published online in March 2026, featuring six essays, a review of new cultural spaces in the city and the «Fonti, archivi e strumenti» section, opening with a remembrance of Gianmaria Savoldelli. In July 2026, the proceedings of the November 2024 Bergamo conference on Ercole Tasso were published in a special issue of «Sinestesie Online», edited by Cappelletti, Castellozzi and Gamba. As it approaches its 50th anniversary in 2029, the association has grown in membership — around seventy members — and strengthened its organizational structure. It is recognized in Bergamo's cultural world for the quality of its work. The association collaborates with the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities, the Lombardy Region, the Province of Bergamo and the Municipality of Bergamo, as well as regional and provincial school offices, local authorities, universities, libraries, archives, institutes and associations, both national and foreign, to strengthen skills, information exchange and research opportunities.

• 2026

  Publication of Matteo Patelli's «Esporre l'avanguardia in provincia» in the Borsa Cicolari series.

• 2026

  Issue no. 19 of «Quaderni di Archivio Bergamasco» published online.

• 2026

  Archivio Bergamasco 2026 brochure released.

• 2026

  Proceedings of the November 2024 conference on Ercole Tasso published in a special issue of «Sinestesie Online».

• 2025

  XXVIII edition of «Fonti e temi di storia locale» announced: eleven meetings from October 2025 to June 2026 at Spazio Viterbi.

• 2025

  Publication of Angelo Mazzi's «Le guerre civili del 1226-1229 e la Società del Popolo», second volume of the «Scrittori bergamaschi» series.

• 2025

  Publication of the 2025 Strenna «La musica degli angeli e la danza dei santi» by Elena Bugini.

• 1981

  Presentation of a volume by Jörg Jarnut at the Sala dell'Archivio di Stato, introduced by president Giuseppe Tognon.

• 1979

  Archivio Bergamasco founded in Bergamo by notarial act of Carlo Leidi.

• Approaching the 50th anniversary of the association's founding.

A volunteer-run, non-profit cultural association and research centre recognized in Bergamo's cultural world for the quality of its work on local history and documentary sources.

• «Quaderni di Archivio Bergamasco» annual journal

  Annual journal publishing essays, reviews and the «Fonti, archivi e strumenti» section.

• «Scrittori bergamaschi» book series

  Series dedicated to Bergamasque writers; second volume published in 2025.

• «Strenna» annual publication

  Annual gift publication for members; 2025 edition by Elena Bugini on Lorenzo Lotto's Pala di Santo Spirito.

• Borsa Cicolari series

  Series of contributions from the Alessandro Cicolari scholarship; includes Matteo Patelli's volume on Martinengo.

• Conference proceedings

  Published proceedings of conferences, including the 2024 Ercole Tasso conference.

1. 1Archivio Bergamasco | Centro studi e ricerche bibliografiche e documentariearchiviobergamasco.it
2. 2Chi siamo | Archivio Bergamascoarchiviobergamasco.it
3. 3Storia | Archivio Bergamascoarchiviobergamasco.it
4. 4Statuto | Archivio Bergamascoarchiviobergamasco.it
5. 5Archivio bergamasco - Wikidatawikidata.org