65 years of collaboration between the Ambrosiana Library and the University of Notre Dame

In 1960, the Ambrosiana Library and the University of Notre Dame (Indiana, USA) began a collaboration destined to mark international scientific research. On the initiative of Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini (future Paul VI) and the President of Notre Dame Father Theodore Hesburgh, the project was born to microfilm the manuscripts of the Ambrosiana Library, making them accessible to American scholars without the need for an overseas transfer.

Today, 65 years later, that vision continues to evolve thanks to digital technology. With the creation of the Ambrosiana Digital Library, the Library’s manuscript heritage can be consulted in an innovative way, guaranteeing wider and more lasting access to researchers from all over the world.

In recent days, the University of Notre Dame celebrated this anniversary with a series of round tables and academic insights, which saw the participation of Msgr. Federico Gallo, Director of the Ambrosiana Library and former invited Professor at Notre Dame, and numerous scholars from the University of Notre Dame who have collaborated with the Ambrosiana, starting with Prof. Robert R. Coleman, author of the catalog of the Ambrosiana’s drawings. Fabio Cusimano, curator of the catalog and the Digital Library of the Ambrosiana, and Paolo Sirito, Director of the Library of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, also spoke.

Representing the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana was Mons. Francesco Braschi, vice prefect, who brought his institutional greeting, underlining the value of this collaboration in combining research and innovation.