Florence

Italy's most celebrated literary academy, the Accademia della Crusca, in Florence, risks closure for lack of funds. The Accademia, located in a 16th-century villa, was founded in 1582 by Pietro de' Medici for the "study and conservation of the Italian language". In 1612 it produced Italy's first authoritative dictionary based on the Florentine dialect, later enlarged to 11 volumes in a monumental fifth edition, completed in 1923. The current president of the Accademia is Giovanni Nencioni, regarded as the greatest living authority on the Italian language.