PITRÉ, GIUSEPPE. – The foremost scholar of Italian folk traditions and one of the most distinguished in Europe, born in Palermo on 22 December 1841, died there on 9 April 1916. He practiced medicine throughout his life without ever interrupting his scholarly work. He founded a Museum of Sicilian Ethnography (now located at La Favorita and expanded through the efforts of Prof. G. Cocchiara). In his later years, he held the chair of dermopsychology at the University of Palermo.
His principal work remains the *Biblioteca delle tradizioni popolari siciliane* in 25 volumes, which collects the *corpus* of the island’s traditional life, illustrating every aspect from songs, fairy tales, and legends, customs and traditions, festivals and spectacles, to games, proverbs, riddles, and more. Also of great importance is his *Bibliografia delle tradizioni popolari d’Italia* (up to 1894; a second volume, in manuscript form, held by his heirs, extends to 1916). In 1882, together with another distinguished Sicilian folklorist, S. Salomone Marino, he founded and for over twenty years directed the *Archivio per lo studio delle tradizioni popolari*, which featured contributions from eminent philologists and ethnographers. Alongside the journal, he launched the series *Curiosità popolari tradizionali* (15 volumes).
Pitrè was always able to combine meticulous and extensive collection of materials with a profound understanding of the psychology and life of the common people.