Fabio Sappino is a MPhil/PhD candidate in International History. Before joining LSE, Fabio was allievo ordinario (honours student) at the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna di Pisa (Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies), where he earned a Master in Political Science. At the University of Pisa he obtained both his Bachelor in Political Science and his Master in International Studies. He also spent a period studying Law at the University of Vienna. He has previously worked as Junior Research Assistant for the “UN mediation in Libya 2014-2022” project at Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies and as an intern for the Political Department for the Mediterranean, the Middle East and Afghanistan at the Permanent Mission of Italy to the UN – New York.

His research aims to reconstruct the individual and collective biographies of Italian colonial governors from 1897 to 1935. Although colonial administrators were not part of a single generation, there were many cultural, political, and personal ties between colonial administrators of both liberal and fascist Italy, allowing a categorization of the apical figures of the Italian colonies. Moreover, Italian governors went frequently beyond their administrative functions, becoming geopolitical actors. A particular emphasis will therefore be placed on the relations between colonial administrators and the traditional non-European authorities and cultures, with special regard to Islam.

Provisional Thesis Title: "Empire of Governors. Italian Colonial Governors as Geopoliticians."

Supervisors: Dr David Motadel and Professor Charles Burdett (SAS - School of Advanced Studies)

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