Fun with sadists 1

I was interested to learn that Giancarlo Nivoli of the University of Sassari in Italy considers that many of his compatriot colleagues suffer from mental illness and that this causes their students to fail ("Italy's dons are sadists", THE S, March 14). Might I inquire what mental malady Nivoli suffers from? Folie de grandeur , perhaps?

Iain Stevenson
City University