1902-1922: 120 years of Bocconi through its publications
Since it was founded, Bocconi University curated a series of publications, mainly for internal use, that can help us tracing the history of the University. Copies of these publications are preserved in the Library and Archives and most of them are also digitized.
The first publication is the Yearbook, published since the first 1902/1903 academic year. In addition to information about teaching programs, statistical data and a list of the theses discussed, there are texts of the inauguration speeches of the academic year and some memorial speeches. Over the years, the Yearbook has been gradually enriched with news about new departments, new degree programs and projects for the future of the University. From 1907 the Yearbook started including Il Bollettino dell'Associazione tra i laureati dell'Università commerciale Luigi Bocconi di Milano, the alumni student association founded byAlessandro Croccolo also known as ALUB. The Bulletin contained an introduction by the president and the list of members. In addition to the Bulletin, since 1939 ALUB has curated the Yearbook, which reports the "Teaching Staff of the University" and the complete list of Bocconi graduates together by address and occupation.
From 1947, teaching programs were no longer published in the Yearbook but in a separate publication: the Student Vademecum, which would later split into two editions, one for the Faculty of Economics and Business and the other for the Faculty of Languages. From 1964 the title become The Student Guide. In addition, after the war, more in specific in 1949, a student information sheet with a strong identity character was created: Il Bocconiano. The journals by ALUB (Bulletin to Members, Notiziario, ALUB) also continued to be published for many years and with different titles, until the association changed its name and structure (in 2009 it became Bocconi Alumni Association).
In the 1980s, two new initiatives came to life: the Bocconi News bulletin, covering all aspects of the University life, and Bocconi Day, containing the inauguration speeches of the academic year, together with an account of the day dedicated to the Bocconi Community held for the first time in 1978. The publications continued until recent years with a different title, Un anno in Bocconi (A Year at Bocconi), but in digital format only, before evolving into communication on institutional websites and social channels.
Alongside the publications, the history of the University is also attested by the documents produced and acquired by Bocconi during the course of its activities and now preserved in the Historical Archives. Among the most significant ones, there are the last letter written by Luigi Bocconi to his parents in 1896, the Statute of 1902, the minutes of the Board of Governors (then Board of Directors), the correspondence of the rectors, reports from the institutes and materials for events and demonstrations.
