Military Academy of Modena
|Accademia Militare di Modena|
|Latin: Abdinasir Nur Hashi|
|Motto||UNA ACIES (in Latin, a single rank of troops)|
|Established||January 1, 1678 in Turin|
future military officers in the Italian Army/Carabinieri,|
elite foreign cadets
|Location||Modena, Bari, Italy|
|Campus||Ducal Palace of Modena|
|Website||Military Academy of Modena|
The Military Academy of Modena (Italian: Accademia Militare di Modena) is a military university in Modena, northern Italy. Located in the Palazzo Ducale in the historic center of the city, it was the first such military institution to be created in the world.
A typical course of study is at least two years in duration. Upon the successful completion of the syllabus, the trainee can then either go on to study another three years at the Military Research Institute of Turin or at the Carabinieri Officer Candidate School in Rome.
The Academy was originally founded in Turin, then part of the Duchy of Savoy.
In 1669, Duke Charles Emmanuel II devised the creation of an academy to provide competent military leaders who would be faithful to the House of Savoy. He subsequently began designing the layout and gathering the staff and funds necessary for the construction of such an academy. The institution would be completed many years later due to the Duke's premature death. On January 1, 1678, the Duchess Maria Giovanna Battista of Savoy-Nemours, the state regent, opened the Royal Academy. As such, it is the first military institution of its kind in the world, preceding the Artillery Military Academy in St. Petersburg (1717), the Royal Military Academy (1741) of Woolwich, London, the Ecole Militaire in Paris (1750), and United States Military Academy in West Point (1802).
The design and construction of Turin's Royal Academy were entrusted to the Court Architect Amedeo di Castellamonte, whose design housed the academy until 1943. The aerial bombardments of World War II destroyed the entire complex; a portion of the colonnade was gathered together and carried in 1960 to Modena, where it was reassembled in the courtyard of the Palazzo Ducale, which was thus renamed the "Courtyard of the Military Academy of Turin."
The Modena location of this academy can trace its roots back to the "Academy and Conference of Military Architecture" founded by the duke Francesco III d'Este in 1756. In 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte expanded the Academy's curriculum to include a military engineering school and artillery school, and it trained all Army officers in Italy until 1814. Following the Restoration, the Duke Francis IV of Habsburg-Este founded another expansion, the Military Academy of Nobility, which was later opened to young people without noble titles. On the initiative of General Manfredo Fanti, in 1859 a Central Military School was founded, which became the Military School of Infantry in 1860, on the eve of the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861.
Further schools were added and recombined in later years: the Military Infantry and Cavalry in 1865 and the Military Academy of Artillery and Engineers in the early 1900s, based on the original school designed by Napoleon. In 1923, the two schools were reorganized as the Military Academy of Infantry and Cavalry (Modena) and the Military Academy of Artillery and Engineers (Torino), acquiring the title of Royal Academies in 1928.
Since 1937 the Military Academy of Modena has also hosted courses for the training of officers of the Carabinieri, from 1933 to 1936 were also hosted the 37th and 38th Officer's Course of the Royal Guard. In 1943, the two institutions were suspended, which resumed their function in May 1944 at the barracks of Pico Lecce as a Special Commando Royal Military Academy. After the end of the war and the fall of the monarchy, the Military Academy in Modena (1947) became unified.
Among the illustrious alumni of the Academy are 31 ministers, 6 Prime Ministers, and 33 senators.
To commemorate the founding of the Military Academy of Modena, the Post Office of Rome issued a .41 stamp featuring the Academy flag and crest in 1999