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Accademia della Crusca[Ak-kAde´mEA del´lA krOOs´kA] Pronunciation Key [Ital.,=academy of the chaff], Italian literary society founded in Florence in 1582 to maintain the purity of the language. Leonardo Salviati, influenced by Pietro Bembo, and the poet Grazzini formed the society to unify literary Italian on the model of the vernacular of Tuscany. A comedy by Lorenzino de' Medici, L'Aridosio, was chosen as a standard, as were two plays by the artist and poet Michelangelo Buonarroti, first consul of the society. The major work of the society was the compilation of Grazzini's Vocabulario, a dictionary of "pure" words, first published in 1612. It has gone through many editions and remains one of the finest Italian dictionaries. The society succeeded in establishing literary purism in Italy for several centuries. Joined with two other academies, it is still in existence.
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