Vincenzo Falasca was born in Grumento Nova (Potenza) on April 2nd, 1942. In 2019 he passed away, leaving behind his wife, Benedetta Mileo, and two children, Josè and Carmen.
He graduated from the University of Naples with a degree in classical literature. Nino Cortese, a historian of the Risorgimento, was his advisor to his thesis. After graduation he went on to teach literature in high school.
His Catholic background led him to serve in various civic and political roles. Through the now dissolved Christian Democrats, he served briefly as the Mayor of Grumento Nova. He held the position of President of the Health Unit, Local Number 3 of the Agri Valley and as Regional President of the ANCI-Health. He also served as President of IRSAB (Research Institute for Archeological History of Basilicata).
He has published numerous works, many of which are still in circulation and have earned praise from critics and the public alike. Notably, these include Piccolo dizionario del dialetto grumentino (1995), Racconto storico del Santuario grumentino di Maria SS. Sotto il titolo di Sales Infirmorum (1997), Il culto di S. Antonino, Martire di Apace, in Saponara (1994), La chiesa della Madonna del Rosario in Grumento Nova (AA.VV. 1995), La Principessa e il cantastorie; una storia grumentina sospesa tra due secoli (Commedia in 2 atti 2000), Folklore in Basilicata; il caso Saponara, Canti dell'Ottocento e tradizioni popolari (2000), La Rivoluzione Napoletana del 1799 nei Comuni della Valle dell'Agri ed in Basilicata (1999), Comuni della Basilicata—Costumi popolari del 1700 ed identità storica (2001), Comuni della Basilicata—Costumi popolari del 1800 ed identità storica (2003), Comuni dell'Abruzzo e Molise—Costumi popolari del 1700 ed identità storica (2004), Comuni della Campania—Costumi popolar del 1700 ed identità storica (2004), Memorie Grumentine Saponariensi—Manoscritto inedito del 1736 di Niccolò Ramaglia (2005), Dialetto Grumentino—Dizionario etimologico comparato (2013), "Grumentum colonia romana" (the only existing tour guide of the ruins of Grumentum, 2011), and La vita di S. Laverio—Da un manoscritto vaticano inedito (2012).
His collection of poems Lapsus (1991) was chosen for the Premio Selezione by the publishing house Duemila. The first edition of Grumentum, Saponaria, Grumento Nova—Storia di una Comunità dell'Alta Val d’Agri was published in 1996 and was an immediate success, so much so that there was demand for a second edition the following year. And as a work of local history, it won the Special Selection prize from the jury of Premio Basilicata in 1996. It was also presented, along with the work Basilicata in the History of Italy, edited by Nino Calice, by the provincial government in Potenza as part of the “Modern and Contemporary Basilicata — Between Sources and Literature” festival, sponsored by the National Central Library of Rome on December 3rd, 1996. Similarly, his work La Rivoluzione Napoletana del 1799 won the “Mafrice” International Prize in the history category in Milan from the Sala Lampadario Press Club in Corso Venezia. Professor Falasca also founded the journal Comunità e Territorio, a publication of the Upper Agri Mountain Community.
