Prof. Dr. Alessandro Bausi

Alessandro Bausi (Firenze, 1963). Classical studies and Indoeuropean and Semitic comparative linguistics at the University of Florence (BA and MA, cum laude, in Geez language and literature, 1988). Ph.D. in Ethiopic philology (Istituto Universitario Orientale [IUO], Naples, 1988-1992). Teacher's diploma exam in Greek, Latin and Humanities for secondary school (1992). Supply teacher in Italian State high schools (1992-1995). Main research interests: Geez (Ancient Ethiopic) language and literature and Ethiopian history of the ancient and medieval period, from the philological (manuscript tradition of the texts and their origin, also including the relevant background in the literatures of the Christian Orient) and linguistic point of view. Comparative linguistics of the Semitic languages of Ethiopia. Manuscript cultures. Development of digital systems and resources for Ethiopian studies. Several field researches in Ethiopia and Eritrea since 1990. Main publications: critical editions and translations of canonico-liturgical and hagiographical texts (among which, new texts of the most ancient Ethiopic literature, dating back to the Aksumite age, and relevant to the history of Ethiopia, Egypt and late antique christianity), as well as apocryphal and documentary ones. Contributor and field-specialist (Ethiopic literature, including manuscriptological topics) to the "Encyclopaedia Aethiopica" (co-editor since 2009). Other initiatives for international series ("Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium, Scriptores Aethiopici", "Corpus Christianorum. Series Apocryphorum", "Cahiers d'Orientalisme").

Academic affiliation

• Assistant Professor at the IUO, Naples, Department for Studies on African and Arab Countries (February 1995).
• Professor with an annual appointment of Ethiopic language and literature (1999-2002) and Ethiopian history and institutions (2001/02) at the Faculty of Arts of the IUO.
• Associate Professor (November 2002 to August 2009, confirmed since November 2005) of Ethiopic language and literature at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Naples "L'Orientale" (UNO), with annual appointments of Ethiopian history and institutions (2002-05), Semitic civilizations of the Horn of Africa (2005/06), Ethiopian history and institutions (2006-08), Amharic Language and Literature (2008/09).
• Academic director of the BA program on "Languages and civilizations of Asia and Africa" at the Faculty of Arts of the UNO (2004/05).
• Visiting Professor of the Hiob-Ludolf-Stiftung at the Asien-Afrika-Institut of the University of Hamburg (Wintersemester 2005/06, November-December 2005).
• Adjunct Professor of Ethiopian Philology at Addis Ababa University, Department of Linguistics, Philology MA program (since 2006/07).
• Academic President of the BA and MA programs on Asia and Africa ("Languages and Civilizations of Asia and Africa", BA and MA programs, and "Linguistics of Asia and Africa", MA program) at the Faculty of Arts of the UNO (2007/08).
• Professor for Ethiopian studies at the University of Hamburg, Faculty of Arts, Asien-Afrika-Institut, Abteilung für Afrikanistik und Äthiopistik (since September 2009).
• Director of the Hiob Ludolf Center for Ethiopian Studies, University of Hamburg, Faculty of Arts (since September 2009).

Memberships

• Association pour l'Étude de la Littérature Apocryphe Chrétienne (AELAC).
• Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente (IsIAO, Roma).
• Gruppo Italiano di Ricerca su Origene e la Tradizione Alessandrina (GIROTA).
• Philological Society of Ethiopia (PSE, Addis Ababa, since 2006).
• Istituto per l'Oriente "Carlo Alfonso Nallino"(IPOCAN, Roma, since 2007).
• International Association for Coptic Studies (normal member, since 2007).
• Member of the scientific and editorial board of the "Annali dell'Istituto Universitario Orientale di Napoli" (Napoli, July 2001 - November 2004).
• Member of the editorial board of "Aethiopica" (Hamburg, since 2005).
• Member of the scientific board of "Rassegna di Studi Etiopici" (Roma - Napoli).
• Member of the scientific board of "Christjanskij Vostok" (Sankt Peterburg, since 2007).
• Member of the advisory board of "Studi e Materiali di Storia delle Religioni" (Roma, since 2009).

Current Research Projects

• Beta maṣāḥǝft: Manuscripts of Ethiopia and Eritrea
• Encyclopaedia Aethiopica (since 2009, co-editor)
• Aethiopica
  International Journal of Ethiopian and Eritrean Studies (since 2009, editor). Cp.
• Comparative Oriental Manuscript Studies
  (COMSt, European Science Foundation, Research Networking Programme, since 2009, chair since December).
• TraCES: From Translation to Creation: Changes in Ethiopic Style and Lexicon
• SFB 950 TP C05 ‘Parchment Saints’: The Making of Ethiopian Hagiographic Manuscripts