Maurizio Bettini (born 24 July 1947) is an Italian

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...

and novelist. He is a professor of classical philology at the

University of Siena The University of Siena (, abbreviation: UNISI), located in Siena, Tuscany, holds the distinction of being Italy's first publicly funded university as well as one of the oldest, originally established as ''Studium Senese'' in 1240. As of 2022, it ...

and director of Siena's Centre for the Study of Anthropology and the Ancient World.

Biography

Maurizio Bettini received his ''

laurea In Italy, the ''laurea'' is the main post-secondary academic degree. The name originally referred literally to the laurel wreath, since ancient times a sign of honor and now worn by Italian students right after their official graduation ceremo ...

'' in classical languages from the

University of Pisa The University of Pisa (, UniPi) is a public university, public research university in Pisa, Italy. Founded in 1343, it is one of the oldest universities in Europe. Together with Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa and Sant'Anna School of Advanced S ...

in 1970. His academic career has focused on the study of ancient Greek and Latin culture. He was a ''professore incaricato'' of Greek and Latin grammar at the University of Pisa from 1975 to 1980, ''professore straordinario'' of Latin literature at the

Ca' Foscari University of Venice Ca' Foscari University of Venice (), or simply Ca' Foscari, is a public research university and business school in Venice, Italy. Since its foundation in 1868, it has been housed in the Venetian Gothic palace of Ca' Foscari, from which it takes ...

from 1981 to 1984, and is a full professor of Greek and Latin philology at the

since 1985. He was the dean of Siena's faculty of literature and philosophy from 1986 to 1995. In 1986 he co-founded Siena's Centre for the Study of Anthropology and the Ancient World, of which he remains the director. Since 1992, he has been a recurring visiting professor at the Classics Department of the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. He has also been a visiting professor at other universities in the United States, France, Canada, Switzerland, Japan, Israel, China and the United Kingdom. For his novel ''Le coccinelle di Redún'', he was awarded the Mondello Prize in 2004. In 2013 he was awarded the Mondello Prize for Literary Criticism for his book ''Vertere. Un'antropologia della traduzione nella cultura antica''.

Selected bibliography

Works in English translation

* ''Anthropology and Roman culture: kinship, time, images of the soul'', translated by John Van Sickle, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991, . * ''The portrait of the lover'', translated by Laura Gibbs, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999, . * ''Classical indiscretions: a millennial enquiry into the state of the classics'', translated by John McManamon, London: Duckworth, 2001, . * ''The ears of Hermes: communication, images, and identity in the classical world'', translation by William Michael Short, Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2011, . * ''Women & weasels: mythologies of birth in ancient Greece and Rome'', translated by Emlyn Eisenach, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013, . * ''The world through Roman eyes: anthropological approaches to ancient culture'' (editor), translated by William Michael Short, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018, . * ''In Praise of Polytheism'', translated by Douglas Grant Heise, Oakland, California: University of California Press, 2023, .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bettini, Maurizio 1947 births Living people 20th-century Italian philologists 21st-century philologists Italian classical philologists Italian Latinists 20th-century anthropologists 21st-century anthropologists Italian anthropologists 20th-century Italian novelists 21st-century Italian novelists University of Pisa alumni Academic staff of the University of Pisa Academic staff of the Ca' Foscari University of Venice Academic staff of the University of Siena