Giovanni Spano, nato a Ploaghe l'8 marzo 1803 da una famiglia di agiati possidenti, fu un pensatore coraggioso e moderno. Si occupò di tutto ciò che poteva attirare la sua immensa curiosità, esercitando i suoi vasti interessi culturali in molteplici ambiti disciplinari, tanto da poter essere considerato l'iniziatore degli studi sardi e sulla Sardegna. Fu il primo studioso ad occuparsi di archeologia scientifica in Sardegna. È lui stesso a raccontare in una autobiografia (pubblicata a puntate sulla rivista "La Stella di Sardegna", fondata a Sassari nel 1875 da Enrico Costa) le vicende che lo videro protagonista, a partire dalla sua vita di scolaro. A nove anni venne, infatti, condotto a Sassari per frequentare la scuola of Scolopi.Successivamente, at the seminary of Trent, earned the title of Magister Artium liberalium and, in 1825, a doctorate in theology. He learned Italian, Latin, greek, Hebrew, Chaldean, Arabic and all the dialects of Sardinia. In 1827 he was ordained priest in 1831 and moved to Rome. Here he cultivated his studies of antiquity, of Sacred Scripture and Oriental Languages, and came into contact with some eminent masters.
In 1834 he was appointed professor of Sacred Scripture and Oriental Languages \u200b\u200bat the University of Cagliari. Established, at once, good relations with leading intellectuals of the time, began to follow, books and frequent travel in the territory, the two strands that most attracted him: the language and archeology of Sardinia. In 1835 he began, in fact, his archaeological explorations in the island, but the need to compare his observations with other scholars urged him to make a long trip in various Italian cities. In 1836 he returned to Sardinia, started the first excavations in some sites and addresses the problem of the antiquity of the nuraghi. At the same time continued his studies on the Sardinian language. In 1839 he was appointed director of the Library of the University of Cagliari, which renewed the law. Accused by the Magistrate of the studies, to neglect the teaching of Sacred Scripture to concentrate on language sardines, and poetry, he was reduced salary. It was therefore compelled, in 1842, leaving the direction of the library. But his appointment as canon, and the allocation of the prebend of Villaspeciosa, allowed him to break free from financial worries and concentrate on his studies.
was in constant contact with scholars from all over Europe, with a close match witnessed by some 2500 letters, now housed in the University Library of Cagliari. He began to dig at various locations, including Nora, Ploaghe Lanusei and simultaneously followed his studies in the field of language, beginning with the preparation of his Dictionary. With the "perfect blend" had difficulty keeping his prebend, but nevertheless continued his scientific work and in the excavations in different parts of Sardinia, acquiring an international reputation. In 1854 he was called to preside at the boarding school and the College of Santa Teresa and founded the "Sardinian Archaeological bulletin" in 1857 became rector of the university. Active, in 1860 he set up in Cagliari, Faculty of Letters, but it was closed soon after for lack of students in the same year gave impetus to the "Archaeological bulletin", which appeared until 1865, with the collaboration of internationally renowned scholars, and also collected a significant number of its publications. Ceased his duties as rector in 1868, continued to take care of his studies, giving rise to periodico "Scoperte archeologiche", che pubblicò fino al 1876. Nel corso delle sue ricerche mise insieme una ricchissima collezione di oggetti, frutto di scavi archeologici, e di quadri che donò ai musei di Cagliari e di Sassari.
Nel 1871 fu nominato senatore del Regno per i suoi meriti scientifici. Tuttavia non si recò mai in Senato e non prestò mai giuramento al re d'Italia. Come sacerdote non poteva, infatti, non essere solidale con il pontefice Pio IX: la proclamazione di Roma a capitale d'Italia sottraeva ai papi un potere detenuto da oltre un millennio.
I suoi scritti sono particolarmente numerosI: oltre agli studi di carattere archeologico ha pubblicato anche una miriade di opere dedicate alla lingua sarda (National Spelling Sardinia, Cagliari, 1840; Vocabulary Sardinian-Italian and Italian Sardinia, vol. I, Cagliari, 1851) and philological publications.
John Spano deserves to be remembered not only for having revealed the origins and reasons for the nation's cultural Sardinia, but also for the iron will to read up, to deepen the disciplines in which precursor was beyond the confines of his island and for helping to catch the historic Sardinia.
In the spring of 1877 manifested the serious health problems that April 3, 1878 led to his death.
The tomb named after Canon John Spano is situated within the monumental cemetery of Bonaria, on the north side. The reuses a tomb found Roman had the same scholar. Designed by Canon nine years before his death, as stated by one of the inscriptions on the front ("Iohannes Spanus Vivus fecit sibi MDCCCLXIX ... ') is composed of a Roman sarcophagus supported by four columns and surmounted by a marble bust of the deceased attributed to Giuseppe Sartorio.
