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My former colleague and friend Giulio Lepschy, who has died aged 91, was a pioneering linguist in the study of structuralism and the history of linguistics, as well as an innovator in studies of the Italian language.

La Linguistica Strutturale, a book illustrating a complex linguistic theory in a precise, comprehensive language, was published in 1966, when he was only 31 years old; The Italian Language Today, written in 1977 with his wife, Anna Laura Momigliano, is one of the most effective descriptions of the history, sociolinguistics and structure of Italian. The five-volume History of Linguistics (1994-98), which he devised and edited, is a milestone in the field of linguistic theory and studies.

Giulio was a professor in the department of Italian studies at the University of Reading, which he helped to shape as a unique community, attracting young scholars united by the idea that Italian culture should be explored with a wide-ranging gaze.

The department, where I also worked, grouped students of literature, linguistics, history, art history, cinema and philosophy, and soon became a model for others. Giulio was always ready to listen, help and contribute to one’s work with his boundless erudition, sharp mind, problematic questions and irony.

Born in Venice, he was the younger of the two sons of Sara (nee Castelfranchi) and Emilio Lepschy, a clerk. Sara was Jewish, and was persecuted after the racial laws of 1938; as a consequence the two boys spent part of their early childhood in hiding in a convent.

Giulio later attended the Liceo Classico in Venice, and graduated at the Scuola Normale in Pisa in 1957. He did his postgraduate studies in Pisa, then spent time in Oxford, where he met and married Anna Laura, later a professor of Italian at University College London, in 1962.

He joined Reading as a lecturer in 1964, becoming professor in 1975. After retirement in 1997, he continued teaching part-time for a few years, before being made emeritus professor in 2000.

Giulio became a fellow of the British Academy in 1987, and of the Accademia della Crusca, dedicated to the study and preservation of the Italian language, in 1991. He was awarded the Serena medal by the British Academy in 2000, and in 2003 became Commendatore della Repubblica Italiana (one of the highest honours awarded by the Italian president). He was also honorary professor at UCL, and at the universities of Cambridge and Toronto.

Giulio loved the theatre very much, but his real passion was always his work, and the collection dearest to him were his books. Meeting him at the British Library over coffee or lunch was one of the highlights of my visits to England. He did not suffer fools gladly, especially when pompous, but was known for his composure and modest demeanour, as well as his wit and the enigmatic cats he used to draw during meetings that dragged on longer than necessary.

He is survived by Anna Laura.