BUCELLI, DOMENICO MAURIZIO. - Piarist educator, b. in Venezia on 22 Sept. 1788, d. in Ovada on 18 March 1842 in the odour of sanctity. Orphaned, he received a harsh education. As a young man he devoted himself to the Scuole pie, where he desired to provide for the improvement of pupils and educators.
At the college of Carcare, supported by Fr. Carosio, where he taught literature for 28 years, B. introduced the first school of the national language, six years before it was required by law in Piemonte; he proposed a method of language teaching based on easy induction, which he printed in 1824 under the title Ragion della lingua, a work commented upon by Cherubini and Lambruschini but opposed in government circles for political reasons. With his “intermediate” school, B. gave youth a pleasing school environment and sought to foster the development of an early intellect. Having banished Arcadian trivialities from the schools, he replaced them with tests of ingenuity for young people. He spent his last years in Ovada, setting examples of charity toward the hospital and of self-sacrifice for youth.