Biography

I am specialized in the history of the Horn of Africa. I hold a degree in Oriental Languages from the University of Ca' Foscari in Venice and a Pd.D. in African History from the University of Siena. I was a Marie Curie Fellow from 2009 to 2011. I have extensive field experience in the Horn of Africa, with regular research visits to Eritrea and Ethiopia. My research focuses on Eritrea's colonial social and economic history, Islam and Italian colonialism, the history of writing and reading in the Horn of Africa.

Major publications: “‘The Red Sea is the key to the Mediterranean’. The Italo-Ottoman war and the Red Sea region (1911–1912)”, The Journal of North African Studies, 2024, 1-25; “From Incunabula to Book History: Ethiopia, Eritrea, and the Search for their Printed Past”, Aethiopica. International Journal of Ethiopian and Eritrean Studies, 24/2021, pp. 141-174; “Italian Colonialism in Africa as a Connected System: Institutions, Men and Colonial Troops”, The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 47/4, 2019, pp. 718-741.  

Projects

Pavia

This Research Unit will explore the demand of textiles in the Horn of Africa, a region with an important local production. In the nineteenth century Indian, European and American producers sought to cater to these customers.

Contacts