Nizzoli Project: EEF Press Report on the discovery of Amalia Nizzoli's grave and the published monograph

Description

International research project carried out since 2008 by Carlo Rindi Nuzzolo (Monash University, Melbourne) and Irene Guidotti (Monash University Library) discovered the long-lost tomb of the writer and archaeologist ante litteram Amalia Sola Nizzoli. 

 

The latter, wife of Chancellor and merchant of Egyptian antiquities Giuseppe Nizzoli, is particularly renowned for her work "Memorie sull'Egitto e specialmente sui costumi delle donne orientali" published in 1841. During her long stay in Egypt she also directed an excavation at Saqqara on behalf of her husband.  In fact, Giuseppe Nizzoli has been responsible for the sale of rich collections of Egyptian antiquities which formed the nucleus of major archaeological museums in Italy and abroad: amongst them the Egyptian Museum of Florence, the Civic Archaeological Museum of Bologna and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

 

It was unclear what happened to Amalia Nizzoli after the publication of her book and both the cause and place of her death were still unknown. 

The authors, after an investigation carried out through several nations have not only been able to reconstruct her last years of life and the cause of her death, but also retrieved hitherto unknown manuscripts which led to the discovery of Amalia Nizzoli's tomb.

 

The documents leading to the discovery of the tomb and the relative research have been published in C. Rindi Nuzzolo - I. Guidotti, "Amalia Nizzoli e la sua tomba perduta. Storia di un ritrovamento e degli ultimi anni di vita dell'autrice di Memorie sull'Egitto", Studi dedicati alla memoria di Giuseppe e Amalia Nizzoli - Vol. I, Firenze (2015).