Janina Sara Maria Ramirez (; ' Maleczek; born 7 July 1980), sometimes credited as Nina Ramirez, is a British

art historian Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

cultural historian Cultural history combines the approaches of anthropology and history to examine popular cultural traditions and cultural interpretations of historical experience. It examines the records and narrative descriptions of past matter, encompassing the ...

, and TV presenter. She specialises in interpreting symbols and examining works of art within their historical context.

Education and academic career

Ramirez went to school in

Slough Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4 ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

. She gained a degree in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

, specialising in

Old Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

and

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...

, from

St Anne's College, Oxford St Anne's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 and gained full college status in 1959. Originally a women's college, it has admitted men since 1979. It has some 450 undergraduate and 200 ...

, before completing her postgraduate studies at the Centre for Medieval Studies,

University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...

. She completed a PhD on the artistic and literary symbolism of birds, which led to a lectureship in York's Art History Department, followed by lecturing posts at the

University of Winchester , mottoeng = Wisdom and Knowledge , established = 1840 - Winchester Diocesan Training School1847 - Winchester Training College1928 - King Alfred's College2005 - University of Winchester , type = Public research university ...

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...

, and

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. Until 2021, Ramirez was the course director on the Certificate in History of Art at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

's Department for Continuing Education. In 2021, Ramirez became Research Fellow in History of Art at Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford.

Personal life

Her grandfather was

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

. Ramirez and her

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

husband have two children. At 14, she played bass in a band with

Krissi Murison Krissi Murison (born 1981) is a British journalist. She is the editor of ''The Sunday Times Magazine'' and the former editor of the ''NME''. Murison attended The Abbey School in Reading from 1993–2000, before studying English Literature ...

as lead singer. Ramirez was in a punk band while at Oxford but chose finishing her degree over touring with the band.

Television career

* ''Treasures of the Anglo-Saxons'',

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

, August 2010 * ''The Viking Sagas'', BBC Four, May 2011 * ''Britain's Most Fragile Treasure'', BBC Four, October 2011 * ''Illuminations: The Private Lives of Medieval Kings'', 3-part series, BBC Four, January 2012 * '' Chivalry and Betrayal: The Hundred Years' War'', 3-part series, BBC Four, February 2013 * ''Architects of the Divine: The First Gothic Age'', BBC Four, October 2014 * ''Saints and Sinners: Britain's Millennium of Monasteries'', 3-part series, BBC Four, February 2015 * ''The Quizeum'', A museum-based quiz panel show, BBC Four, April 2015 * ''The Search for the Lost Manuscript: Julian of Norwich'', BBC Four, July 2016 * ''An Art Lover's Guide'', BBC Four, May 2017 * ''In Search of Arcadia'', BBC Four, August 2017 * ''England's Reformation: Three Books that Changed a Nation'', BBC Four, October 2017 * ''Art on BBC: The Genius of Leonardo Da Vinci'', BBC Four, May 2018 * ''Raiders of the Lost Past with Janina Ramirez'' BBC Four, September 2019 - 1 The Sutton Hoo Hoard (broadcast 4 September 2019) * ''Handmade in Bolton'' – presenter, featuring

Shaun Greenhalgh Shaun Greenhalgh (born 1961) is a British artist and former art forger. Over a seventeen-year period, between 1989 and 2006, he produced a large number of forgeries. With the assistance of his brother and elderly parents, who fronted the sal ...

and narrated by

Waldemar Januszczak Waldemar Januszczak (born 12 January 1954) is an English art critic and television documentary producer and presenter. Formerly the art critic of ''The Guardian'', he took the same role at ''The Sunday Times'' in 1992, and has twice won the Cr ...

, BBC Four, October 2019 * ''Lost Worlds and Hidden Treasures'', 3-part series,

Apple TV An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

, May 2021

Publications

* * * * * * *

References

External links

*
Janina Ramirez
at United Agents
Janina Ramirez – BBC Blog
*
Dr Janina Ramirez: Art Detective – Laluma Podcast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramirez, Janina 1980 births 21st-century English historians Living people Academics of the University of Oxford Academics of the University of Warwick Academics of the University of Winchester Academics of the University of York Alumni of St Anne's College, Oxford Alumni of the University of York English art historians Women art historians English people of Polish descent English television presenters