Director
Since its inception in 2013, staff and fellows of the Eugene Grant Jewish History Program at the Medici Archive Project (MAP) have been uncovering and valorizing over 2000 documents on Jews and Jewish culture from the Medici Archives. These records, which are published online on MAP’s digital portal (mia.medici.org), describe both the everyday life and extraordinary events of Jews in Florence and around the world. In 2016, an even more important discovery was made: over two hundred manuscripts volumes detailing the foundation, development, and demolition of the Florentine ghetto. This treasure trove comprises all the names of Jews who have ever resided in the ghetto; the detailed blueprints of every single apartment; the records of every single professional activity that took place within and outside its walls; the mapping of Jewish mercantile networks; the artistic, musical, and scientific production of Florentine Jews; and accounts on their legal vicissitudes as well as the preservation of Jewish customs and religion.
The Eugene Grant Jewish History Program, directed by Dr. Piergabriele Mancuso, has been presenting his body research both to the general public and academic communities. Most notable are the international conferences at Palazzo Ducale in Venice, Center of Jewish History in New York and Tel Aviv University (co-organized by MAP), and the lecture series at the Streicker Center, also in New York. Aside from numerous scholarly publications that have come out during these past years, the monograph entitled Before the Ghetto: Cosimo I de’ Medici and Jews, will be published by Brepols/Harvey Miller in 2021.
Staff
Swetha Ganeshkumar
Zaida Lagunas
Anna Malgeri
Alison Holdsworth
Jenna Wendler
Massimo Bomboni
Pia Desangles
Theodor David
Tori Burke
