AFFÒ, IRENEO. – Scholar, b. at Busseto (Parma) in 1741, d. at Parma in 1797. He was a Minorite friar and until 1777 taught at Ferrara and Guastalla.
Using extensively the work of Quadrio, he composed a Dizionario precettivo ed istorico della poesia volgare (Parma 1777), a collection of the so-called Cantici volgari di s. Francesco (Guastalla 1777), and the Memorie degli scrittori e letterati parmigiani (5 vols., Parma 1789–97), which is regarded as his finest work and was later continued by A. Pezzana. In 1793 he published the Storia di Parma, which extends to the year 1346. He also engaged in poetry, though with modest results. He edited Poliziano’s Orfeo, an edition esteemed by Carducci and I. Del Lungo. Yet his greatest merit remains his diligent scholarly attention to the preservation of local traditions and memories.