The well-known linguist Claudio Gabrio Antoni, age 74, of Manhattan’s Chelsea district, died at his country retreat in Briscoe, New York on August 26, 2021, succumbing to complications of a prolonged heart condition. He was cared for long term by Daniel P. Brunetto, his brother-in-law and partner of nearly fifty years. Mr. Antoni leaves behind three children: Mathew Kochanski, Richard Kochanski, and Alexis Kochanski-Flores.  His family encourages contributions to support cardiac research in lieu of flowers.

Professor Antoni was noted for the broad scope of his linguistic analyses, encompassing Romance, Classical, and Middle Eastern languages. He explored the nuanced representation of space in literature, the linguistic symbolism of thought and logic, psychoanalytical connections with literary works and theory, and the language of European historicism. He examined Leonardo da Vinci’s mathematical constructs and writings about travel in the context of global civilization, and studied the far-reaching impact of significant South American authors, and particularly José Rizal, a founding father of the Philippines. 

C.G. Antoni published nine books and scores of scholarly articles in a career spanning more than four decades. He taught and lectured in leading universities around the world, including Harvard University, the Sorbonne in Paris, Smith College in Northampton, Mass., Bilkent College in Ankara, Turkey, and since 1993, the University of Udine in Italy where he was tenured in 1996. Professor Antoni also applied his talents in teaching businessmen the practical application of English and Italian linguistics for modern finance at the University of Trieste. 

Claudio Antoni graduated from the University of Trieste in 1971. He was awarded a Fulbright fellowship in the same year to further his studies on the Irish author James Joyce. He earned a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature Cum laude from the City University of New York in 1979 and was an active member of the Modern Languages Association ever after. Outside academia, his diverse interests included Chinese ceramic antiquities, robotics, carnivorous plants, and the cultivation of bonsai. He was an avid member of select bonsai and carnivorous societies, and actively supported the Briscoe Dam Association homeowners’ reconstruction efforts.