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"The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity" (1976) The first essay, "The Role of Spices (and Black Pepper in Particular) in Medieval Economic Development" ("Il ruolo delle spezie (e del pepe nero in particolare) nello sviluppo economico del Medioevo", 1973), traces the curious correlations between spice import and population expansion in the late Middle Ages, postulating a causation due to a supposed aphrodisiac effect of black pepper. Two years later he obtained a full professorship.Ĭipolla produced two non-technical, popular essays that circulated in English among friends in 19, and then were published in 1988, first in Italian, under the title Allegro, ma non troppo ("Forward, but not too fast" or "Happy, but not too much", from the musical phrase meaning "Quickly, but not too quick").
In 1953 Cipolla left for the United States as a Fulbright fellow and in 1957 became a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley. This was to be the first stop in a long academic career in Italy ( Venice, Turin, Pavia, Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa and Fiesole) and abroad. Subsequently, he studied at the University of Paris and the London School of Economics.Ĭipolla obtained his first teaching post in economic history in Catania at the age of 27. While a student there, thanks to professor Franco Borlandi, a specialist in medieval economic history, he discovered his passion for economic history. ( October 2021) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)Īs a young man, Cipolla wanted to teach history and philosophy in an Italian high school, and therefore enrolled at the political science faculty at the University of Pavia. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources.
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