Anna Valanzuolo at 88 discusses her master's thesis

She will complete her degree at 88 years old by discussing her master's thesis in Modern Philology on Monday, Feb. 15, 2016, at 10:30 a.m., at the Federico II. Dr. Anna Valanzuolo Carcaterra received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Modern Humanities in 2013, with 110 cum laude, at the age of 85. Supervisor of both theses was Professor Andrea Mazzucchi. The thesis of the three-year degree was on"The Vision of God : Paradise Canto XXIII" the thesis of the master's degree is on"Dante in the literary production and creative activity of Ugo Foscolo."

Agreat example of tenacity and of love and passion for letters and culture in general, Anna Valanzuolo Calcaterra, as soon as she had obtained her high school diploma first at the classical high school and then at the magistral school (necessary to be able to enter the magistral competition for teaching), had enrolled in the Faculty of Letters, where she had also given some exams. Then, however, having brilliantly won the professorial competition, she preferred to accept the position of elementary school teacher, and she taught for forty years, twenty of them at the "Cimarosa" school in Posillipo, where she has resided for 65 years.

But continuing her interrupted university studies was her dream in the drawer. So, after her two children had grown up (Rosanna an architect in Rome and Giovanni a lawyer in Milan) and her grandchildren had also grown up, she resumed her studies with great enthusiasm more than 60 years after graduating from classical high school.....

The initial fear that young 'colleagues' might make fun of her vanished almost immediately. Anna Valanzuolo Carcaterra 's college experience was pleasant and the young colleagues were all kind, helpful, and complicit. Everything went beyond her wildest expectations until she achieved two degrees in just over two years.