Michela Schiff Giorgini Laurea honoris cause

Michela Schiff Giorgini née Beomonte (1923–1978) was an Italian archaeologist who is remembered for her extensive work in today's Sudan at

Soleb Soleb is an ancient town in Nubia, in present-day Sudan. The site is located north of the third cataract of the Nile, on the western side of the Nile. It was discovered and described by Karl Richard Lepsius in 1844. Necropolis Soleb is also t ...

on the

River Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest rive ...

where from 1957 she conducted excavations of the Temple of Amenhotep III. During the 20 years she spent in the area, she went on to investigate the temple of

Queen Tiye Tiye (c. 1398 BC – 1338 BC, also spelled Tye, Taia, Tiy and Tiyi) was the daughter of Yuya and Thuya. She became the Great Royal Wife of the Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep III. She was the mother of Akhenaten and grandmother of Tutankhamun. In ...

Sedeinga The Sedeinga pyramids are a group of at least 80 small pyramids near Sedeinga, Sudan, built ca. 1 BCE. They were discovered between 2009 and 2012 and date to the time of the Kingdom of Kush, an ancient kingdom in Nubia. They range in size from ab ...

, and the tomb of

Taharqa Taharqa, also spelled Taharka or Taharqo (Egyptian: 𓇿𓉔𓃭𓈎 ''tꜣ-h-rw-k'', Akkadian: ''Tar-qu-u2'', , Manetho's ''Tarakos'', Strabo's ''Tearco''), was a pharaoh of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt and qore (king) of the Kingdom of ...

Nuri Nuri is a place in modern Sudan on the west side of the Nile River, Nile, near the Fourth Cataract. Nuri is situated about 15 km north of Sanam, Sudan, Sanam, and 10 km from Jebel Barkal. Nuri is the second of three Napatan burial sites ...

. The Michela Schiff Giorgini Foundation was established in 1984 to preserve her memory and promote

Egyptology Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious ...

. Her research is well documented in her many books and publications, beginning with ''Soleb: Volume 1'' in 1965.

Biography

Born on 30 October 1923 in

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

, Michela Beomonte was the daughter of the officer Belisarion Beomonte and his wife Gemma Lucchesi. In 1946, after studying art and music, she married Giorgio Schiff Giorgini, a successful banker whose family had close connections with the University of Pisa. The couple moved to Paris before undertaking extensive trips around the globe, visiting America, Africa and Asia. After several trips to Egypt, Schiff Giorgini decided her vocation was to conduct excavation work at ancient Egyptian sites. With her husband's enthusiastic support and under the patronage of the University of Pisa, she embarked on her first mission to Soled, Sudan, accompanied by two experts: Clément Robichon, an outstanding French architect and archaeologist, and Jozef Janssen, a Dutch

epigraphist Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

. In 1961, Janssen was replaced by

Jean Leclant Jean Leclant (8 August 1920 – 16 September 2011) was a renowned Egyptologist who was an Honorary Professor at the College of France, Permanent Secretary of the Academy of Inscriptions and Letters of the Institut de France, and Honorary Se ...

, Egyptology professor at the Sorbonne. From 1957 to 1977, Schiff Giorgini and her team spent six months each year in the Sudan, from October to March. After arriving in Soleb in 1957, under Schiff Giorgini's efficient and well organized management, the team undertook a detailed examination of the temple, before undertaking excavations of its various components. Work was also carried out on the

necropolis A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead". The term usually im ...

which was discovered some 800 metres from the temple. Intricate work was completed on the ruins each year until in 1963 when attention was directed at Sedeinga, about 15 km to the north, with its Temple of Queen Tiye, the wife of

Amenhotep III Amenhotep III ( egy, jmn-ḥtp(.w), ''Amānəḥūtpū'' , "Amun is Satisfied"; Hellenized as Amenophis III), also known as Amenhotep the Magnificent or Amenhotep the Great, was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. According to different ...

. In the neighbouring Meroitic tombs, glassware was found among the funeral artefacts. An ancient road, some 40 km long, was discovered, linking the temples of Soleb and Sesebi. In the vicinity, at Nuri the tomb of the Ethiopian Pharaoh Taharqa was discovered. In 1977, Schiff Giorgini left Sudan for the last time. She moved to Spain where she died on 3 July 1978 in

Benissa Benissa (, es, Benisa) is a small town in Spain in the province of Alicante, 275 m above sea level, and one of the oldest towns on the Costa Blanca. The municipality of Benissa has 4 km of coastline linking the towns of Moraira and C ...

, Alicante, after suffering from

meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, headache, and neck stiffness. Other symptoms include confusion or ...

Awards and distinctions

In addition to her honorary doctorate (1971), Schiff Giorgini received many distinctions, including the Medal of Science and Culture from the Republic of Sudan, Commander of

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking ...

, Commander of the

Ordre national du Mérite The Ordre national du Mérite (; en, National Order of Merit) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's esta ...

(France) and Knight of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

References

External links

The Schiff Giorgini Collection at the University of Pisa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schiff Giorgini, Michela 1923 births 1978 deaths People from Padua Academic staff of the University of Pisa Italian archaeologists Italian Egyptologists Italian women archaeologists Italian classical scholars 20th-century Italian non-fiction writers 20th-century Italian women writers Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Commanders of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Italian expatriates in Sudan