'Senza libertà, nessuna vita degna di tale nome': Gustavo Colonnetti e i Campi Universitari in Svizzera.

Outstanding scholar, known for his contributions to engineering, statics and the mathematical theory of elasticity, Gustavo Colonnetti was relieved of his duties as the rector of the Turin Polytechnic in 1925, as he was openly antifascist. Because of his refusal to connive with the regime, he was forced to leave Turin and went in exile to Switzerland in the autumn of 1943. Here, he created six university camps for interned military students in Fribourg, Geneva, Huttwil, Lausanne, Mürren and Neuchâtel. This paper illustrates the little-known history of the "Italian University in exile", with particular reference to the Great Italian University Camp in Lausanne, by looking at unpublished sources preserved in various Italian and Swiss archives. It's a beautiful story of solidarity and hope, a cultural and human experience of extraordinary intensity, aimed at re-educating thousands of young people to study and free thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]