Luigi Pio Tessitori was born in Udine on 13 December 1887. In his short but intensely productive life, Tessitori established himself as an outstanding philologist, linguist, historian and archaeologist. He is without doubt one of the leading figures in twentieth-century Indological studies. Tessitori studied at Florence under the distinguished Sanskrit scholar, Paolo Emilio Pavolini, taking his degree in 1910 after defending a thesis on the Râmacaritamânasa of Tulasi Dâsa. He quickly rose to international prominence and was appointed by Sir George Grierson, director of the Linguistic Survey of India, to take charge of the Bardic and Historical Survey of Rajputana which was to be undertaken in India for Asiatic Society of Bengal. Tessitori disembarked at Bombay in April 1914 and, after a few months of residence in Calcutta, he moved to Rajasthan, where he was to remain for five years. He devoted himself to meticulously collecting manuscripts and to a scrupulous study of the major works of the Bardic literary canon. Tessitori also concerned himself with archaeology, completing work on behalf of the archaeologist John Marshall. In the course of these digs, he discovered inscriptions, sculptures, earthenware pottery, coins and seals. Tessitori's activities came to a sudden end when he died, after a short illness, at Bikaner, on 22 November 1919. Luigi Pio Tessitori produced a vast number of scholarly publications. His bibliography ranges from translations into Italian of works of Indian literature (La novellina di Upakoça, Il Mercante Adoracani, la Statua della Principessa Europea and la Sattasaî di Hala) to writings that appeared in the "Giornale della Società Asiatica Italiana" (Bhavavairâgyaçatakam, 1909, with an Italian translation; Aggiunte, note e correzioni al Bhavavairâgyaçatakam, 1911; Il "Râmacaritamânasa" e il "Râmâyana", 1911, a comparative study; L'"Uvaesamâlâ" di Dharmadâsa, 1912, a critical edition; Karakunda kî kathâ, ovvero una versione digambara in Jaipurî bhâsâ della storia di Karakandu, 1913, with an Italian translation) and in the "Rivista degli Studi Orientali" (Nâsaketa-rî kathâ, o di una versione in Mâravâdî Bhâsâ del "Nâsiketopâkhyâna", 1913; Indiyaparâjayasayayam, 1917, with an Italian translation), to studies published in the "Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society" (On the Origin of the Dative and Genitive Postpositions in Gujarâtî and Mârwârî, 1913; On Some Grammatical Forms Occurring in the Old Baiswârî of Tulasî Dâsa, 1914), in "Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenlandischen Gesellschaft" (On the Origin of the Perfect Participles in 1 in the Neo-Indian Vernaculars, 1914), in "Indian Antiquary" (Paramajotistotra an Old Braja metrical Version of Siddhasenadivâkara's Kalyânamandirastotra, 1913; Two Jaina Versions of the Story of Salomon's Judgment, in Gujarati and Jaipurî, 1913; Notes on the Grammar of the Old Western Râjasthânî with Special Reference to Apabhramça and to Gujarâtî and Mârvârî, 1914-1916) and in the "Proceedings of the Fifth Gujarâtî Sâhitya Parishad" (Old Gujarâtî and Old Western Râjasthânî, 1915). The list is completed by Tessitori's works of a philosophical and religious nature (Tulasî Dâsa come apostolo e come poeta, 1914; La posizione di Tulasî Dâsa di fronte ai sistemi di Râmânuja e di Çankarâcârya, 1911-1912; Vijaya Dharma Sûri. A Jain Âchârya of the Present Day, 1917) and the works published by the Asiatic Society of Bengal in its "Journal and Proceedings" (A Scheme for the Bardic and Historical Survey of Rajputana, 1915; A Progress Report on the Preliminary Work done during the year 1915 in connection with the Proposed Bardic and Historical Survey of Rajputana, 1916-1920) and in the "Bibliotheca Indica" (A Descriptive Catalogue of Bardic and Historical Manuscripts, 1917-1918; Vacanikâ Râthòra Ratana Singhajî rî Mahesadâsòta rî Khiriyâ Jaga rî kahî, 1917 and Veli Krisana Rukamanî rî Râthòra râja Prithî Râja rî kahî, 1919, critical editions; Chanda râu Jètâ, Sî rò. Vîthu Sûjè rò kiyò also a critical edition, 1920).