[5][6] He received his PhD in Italian literature from the University of Turin[7] in 1952–1953, with a thesis on Giordano Bruno.
[8][9] He taught Italian literature at the same university from 1967 until his death in 2017,[9] and was a prominent literary critic.
[10] He was known for his detailed studies on classical Italian authors such as Dante, Petrarch, Machiavelli, Tasso, Manzoni, Verga and Gozzano, and was also interested in contemporary writers,[6] including D'Annunzio and Svevo.
He coordinated the Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, published by UTET,[11] where he worked as editor.
UTET also published his Storia della civiltà letteraria italiana in six parts (1990–1996).