History of the Association

THE BIRTH OF MATHESIS 1895-1907

Livia Giacardi, Clara Silvia Roero

“I’m going to Rome as a member of the Provisional Committee for the Statute of the Association for Teachers of Mathematics proposed by me in Mathematics Magazine. I stay there two days. On the way back I plan to drop by in Florence.” With these words Rodolfo Bettazzi recorded, on his personal notebook, the birth certificate of Mathesis, the first Italian association of teachers of mathematics, whose foundation, initiated by Bettazzi along with Aurelio Lugli and Francesco Giudice, was part of a cultural climate particularly sensitive to the educational and cultural needs in mathematics.

As has been repeatedly emphasized the late nineteenth century in Italy it witnessed a flourishing of publishing and community initiatives in schools, to improve and promote studies, given the low level of teaching and achievements in schools. Math was a recurring theme in discussions between teachers, even more because the legislation did not help at all the advancement of the discipline.

The new association Mathesis will be able to get in his early years of remarkable achievements activities both from a cultural point of view, for its constant contacts with the academic way, either from the political point of view, thanks to the continuing relationships with the Ministry of Public.