Vinigi Grottanelli

Vinigi Lorenzo Grottanelli was an Italian ethnologist who worked at the Pigorini National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography following the Second World War.

Family background

Vinigi Grottanelli came from an aristocratic background. His father, Franco Winigisio, was descended from the Ugurgièri della Berardenga, a Siennese family.

Post war career

In 1946 Grottanelli joined the Executive Council of the International African Institute.He remained a participant until 1968. In 1969 he was appointed as the first Professor of Ethnology at the Sapienza University of Rome].
Grottanelli established the Italian Ethnological Mission to Ghana in 1954 which he then led until 1975.

Selected publications

In 1978 a list of Grottanelli's works was published by the Frobenius-Institut in Paideuma: Mitteilungen zur Kulturkunde. This covered academic articles from 1936, but excluded newspaper articles.