Liceo scientifico

Liceo scientifico (Italian: [liˈtʃɛːo ʃʃenˈtiːfiko]; lit. 'scientific lyceum') is a type of secondary school in Italy. It is designed to give students the skills to progress to any university or higher educational institution. Students can attend the liceo scientifico after successfully completing middle school (scuola media).

The curriculum is devised by the Ministry of Education, and emphasises the link between the humanistic tradition and scientific culture. It covers a complete and widespread range of disciplines, including Italian language and literature, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, anatomy, Earth science, astronomy, history, geography, philosophy, Latin language and Latin literature, English language and English literature, physical education, art history and technical drawing. Students typically study for five years, and attend the school from the age of 14 to 19. At the end of the fifth year all students sit for the esame di Stato, a final examination which leads to the maturità scientifica.

A student attending a liceo is called "liceale", although the more generic terms studente (male) and studentessa (female) are also in common use. Teachers are known as professore (male) or professoressa (female).

The Liceo Cavour was established in 1871 as the Physics and Mathematics branch of the Regio Istituto Tecnico di Roma (which later became the Istituto Tecnico-Commerciale Leonardo Da Vinci). After the Gentile Reform in 1923, this school became the Regio Liceo Scientifico di Roma, under the royal legislative decree of 9 September 1923, n. 1915. It was founded in 1923-24, as the scientific branch of liceo classico Ennio Quirino Visconti, the first liceo classico in Rome. In 1926 the Regio Liceo Scientifico di Roma was established as an independent body, starting teaching in 1926-27. In 1946, with the inauguration of the Liceo Scientifico Statale Augusto Righi (a branch of the Regio Liceo), the school was renamed "Liceo Scientifico Camillo Cavour".

Among the more famous people to have worked here were the poet Margherita Guidacci, English language and literature teacher from 1965 to 1975, Gioacchino Gesmundo, History and Philosophy teacher from 1934 to 1944, and the physicist Bruno Pontecorvo (who was part of the group of physicists and scientists named 'I Ragazzi di Via Panisperna', translated as Via Panisperna Boys) with his younger brother Umberto. Notable former students include Franca Falcucci, the future Minister of public education, and Marta Russo, whose murder garnered huge media attention. Maria Montessori also graduated here with a degree in physics and mathematics in 1889 while the school was still referred to as Istituto Tecnico-Commerciale Leonardo Da Vinci.

A Royal Commission established in 1906 presented a reform plan that included, among other things, three five-year high schools:

The proposal was accepted by the minister Luigi Credaro in 1911 (Daneo-Credaro law). See the entry history of education in Italy for further details.

The liceo scientifico was confirmed, but radically modified, in 1923 with the Gentile reform, which at the same time suppressed the liceo moderno and the physical-mathematical section of the Regio Istituto Tecnico (Royal Technical Institute). The course was of four years and ended with the Diploma, an extremely demanding state exam with five written tests (Italian, Latin, mathematics, foreign language and drawing) and an oral interview-test (which covered all the subjects studied in the last three years of the course), lasting one hour, in two sessions: one for the literary subjects and one for the scientific subjects.