LUGANO, PLACIDO. - Olivetan Benedictine, abbot of S. Maria Nova in the Roman Forum, b. at Pozzolo Formigaro (Alessandria) on 16 May 1876, d. in Rome, treacherously struck down, on the night of 6 Oct. 1947.
Ordained priest in 1899, after several years of teaching at the Benedictine Gymnasium of Settignano, he was called to Rome by Pius X in 1906 as professor of ecclesiastical history at the Apollinare. He was consultor to the Sacred Congregation of Religious (1911) and of Studies (1913), and a member of the Academy of Catholic Religion (1917).
In 1901 he began publishing the Spicilegium Montolivetense, to which he contributed vol. I, the Chronicon Montis Oliveti (1313-1450) by Antonio da Barga (Florence 1901), and vol. II, The Origin and Beginnings of the Order of Montoliveto, 1313-1450 (ibid. 1903). In 1906 he founded the Rivista storica benedettina, which he actively directed for twenty years, contributing numerous articles of study and research; and in 1908 he founded the series Monographs on Benedictine History, publishing its first volume, The Camaldolese Congregation of the Hermits of Montecorona from Its Origins to Our Times (Rome 1908). Also to be remembered are Memoirs of the Most Ancient Olivetan Illuminators and Calligraphers (Florence 1903); The Cistercian Abbey of Rivalto Scrivia from Its Origins to 1300 (Tortona 1916); Benedictine Italy (Rome 1929); The Unpublished Trials concerning Francesca Basso dei Ponziani (St Francesca Romana), 1440-53 (Studi e testi, 156, Vatican City 1945).