The Melis Testimonial
by S. Paul Garner

Through the courtesy of Professor Dr. Egidio Giannessi of the In-stituto di Richerche, Aziendali, in Pisa, Italy, and Professor Giovanni Padroni, also of Pisa, I recently received from the Mayor of the Commune of Monte Carlo, the Honorable llio Spadoni, a copy of a most attractive illustrated booklet, published in 1975, presenting the papers and tributes made on behalf of the late Federigo Melis, a professor for many years in several Italian universities, who had a keen interest in accounting history, culminating in the publication in the 1950’s of his great volume on accounting history.

The little town of Monte Carlo is located near Lucca, which in turn is near Pisa, and there is an aerial photograph of the town in the 83-page attractively printed memorial volume which was issued as a testimonial to the late Professor Melis, since the latter had been to their town many times during his life. Obviously, Professor Melis was held in high regard by the citizens of Monte Carlo, as indicated by the several tributes printed in the volume, and by the effort made by the editors of the volume to obtain special materials relating to the work and scholarship of Professor Melis.

There are six parts in the testimonial volume, including several pages written by Gino Arrigho, which starts off by stating that “by publishing this volume the government of the town of Monte Carlo, with its Mayor, intends to render a testimonial of the esteem and affection toward an illustrious master who maintained relations with this beautiful land (place), both in his study and warm friendship.”

*I am indebted to Dr. Elizabeth Bibb of the Department of Romance Languages, University of Alabama, for assistance in the translation from the Italian.

This is followed with a brief biographical sketch of Professor Melis, with suitable reference to the point that he had a great affection for all of Tuscany, as well as his native city of Florence. Professor Melis referred to Tuscany towns and villages frequently in his writings and lectures in both Italy and other countries.

After graduating in economics and business from the University of Rome, Professor Melis went back to Tuscany to take up his first job, but this was soon interrupted by service in the military, including a period of time as a prisoner of war. Following that he was a professor of economic history in the University of Cheliari, and then later in both Pisa and Florence. During those years he became especially interested in the economic history of the Middle Ages and studied thousands of documents relating to the 13th to the 16th centuries.

Some of the wide range of research interests of Professor Melis is depicted in a couple of his studies reproduced in the volume, which naturally includes “the white wine of Monte Carlo exported from the year 1400,” and “medieval wines of the Luccan Hills and of the Valdinievole Region which returned to the limelight.” These two items, taking up about 25 printed pages, show a remarkable range of scholarship concerns, with numerous references in the footnotes which only a true scholar would have the patience to ferret out. These two items are included in the volume quite naturally because of their many references to the early history of the town of Monte Carlo.

Following the two articles referred to above, the editors of the pamphlet have rendered an invaluable assistance to later scholars of accounting and economic history by presenting a comprehensive bibliography of Professor Melis, consisting of 20 printed pages, with rather fine print. The accomplishments of this noted scholar are indeed adequately reflected in the wide range of publications listed roughly in chronological order from 1946 to 1974 (several items were published after the death of Professor Melis on December 26, 1973).

Even though the bibliography is indeed impressive, one should examine the great work on accounting history which he published in the prime of his life, to obtain a better grasp of his rare scholarship abilities and multiple talents. It is regretful in a way that this work has not yet been translated into English and other languages of the current cultural scene. A few of the items in the exhaustive bibliography are in French.

Referring again to the two representative samples of the writings of Professor Melis included in the volume, it is interesting that he chose the wine production and distribution as a research concern. Apparently this was one of his most significant professional hobbies, as he describes the early production of wine for export, after the quality had been sufficiently improved. He made a special study of the cost of production of the wine, transportation, taxation, and other economic factors.

The testimonial volume is concluded with two articles, the first being by llano Petroni, concerning the “presentation of the history of Monte Carlo” by Ugo Mori; and, second, an item by Ovidio Capitani on “considerations on the history of Monte Carlo” by Ugo Mori. These two professors of the University of Bologna apparently were presenting review articles on the little town which was so admired by Professor Melis. They refer especially to the earlier history of the town all the way back to the 1300’s.

In the front of the testimonial volume there is an attractive photo-graph of the late Professor Melis, clean shaven, inquisitive eyes, with a slight smile on his countenance.

It was most appropriate for the town of Monte Carlo to do this for this renowned scholar who will always be referred to by his successors in the realm of accounting historians.