Obituary: Zina Tillona, Professor Emerita of Italian, Retired Attorney

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Zina Tillona, 89, of Amherst, professor emerita of Italian and a retired attorney, died Dec. 6.

She was born Sept. 3, 1929 in Licodia Eubea, Sicily. Her family came to New York in the early 1930s, settling first in Lower Manhattan and later in Brooklyn. A precocious student, she graduated from Brooklyn’s Abraham Lincoln High School at age 16. She earned a B.A. in Italian language and literature from Hunter College in 1950 and an M.A. in Italian literature from Wellesley College in 1951.

She joined UMass Amherst as an instructor in Romance languages in 1951. From 1955 to 1957 she was a Fulbright scholar in Rome, where she studied at the University of Rome and taught English at the Center for American Studies.

She earned a doctorate in Italian in 1960 from Middlebury College, completing a dissertation on Luigi Pirandello’s “Novelle per un anno.”

She taught Italian at Wellesley from 1960 to 1964 and at Boston University from 1964 to 1966 before returning to UMass Amherst in 1966 as professor of Italian and head of the Italian language program.

From 1972 to 1979, she also served in the UMass-Amherst administration, first as acting associate provost and then as special assistant to the chancellor. She retired in 1986 to pursue a second career in law.

She received her J.D. in 1986 from Western New England University School of Law, Springfield, and was admitted to the Massachusetts bar. For two decades, she practiced law in Hadley and Amherst. Her practice included family law, elder law, guardianship and criminal defense.

She was also active in public affairs, serving the Town of Amherst as a member of its zoning board of appeals, the charter commission and Town Meeting.

She made numerous visits to Italy and traveled widely in Europe, Asia and Latin America. She was an active member of Grace Episcopal Church, Amherst, for more than a quarter century, and a member of the Amherst Club and Five Colleges Learning in Retirement.

She is survived by her sister Patricia Tillona and sister-in-law Carol Tillona.