Dante Alighieri Society

The Dante Alighieri Society (Italian: Società Dante Alighieri) is a society that promotes Italian culture and language around the world. Today this society is present in more than 60 countries.

It was formed in Italy in July 1889. The society was named after Dante Alighieri (1265–1321), a pre-Renaissance poet from Florence and the author of The Divine Comedy. Dante is considered the father of the Italian language.

In October 1948 the society was restructured at a meeting in Venice to give total autonomy to all chapters of the Dante Society so that each could conduct its activities independently, under the direction of its own elected officers, in a manner that best suited local needs, preferences, and capacities while adhering to the Society's basic principles.

In July 2019 at the International Congress in Buenos Aires, the Società Dante Alighieri adopted a new statute stating that “the foreign committees are subject to the regulations dictated by their own legislation” and that in each committee’s “Constitution must be clear reference to the inspiring principles of the Società Dante Alighieri, the sharing of its aims and objectives and the need to sign the Convenzione di Affiliazione that governs the relationship between the Società Dante Alighieri and the committees.”