PhD graduate wins Italian thesis prize

Luca Fenoglio has been jointly awarded the Spadolini Nuova Antologia XXI prize for his PhD thesis, 'Resisting the "final solution"? Ordinary fascists and Jewish policy in Italian-occupied southeastern France, 1942-1943.

The prize is awarded annually to MA and PhD theses on any aspects of Italian political and cultural history from the ninetheenth century to the present day and is worth €1,500. It is named after Giovanni Spadolini (1925-1994), a leading Italian political figure (was Prime Minister in 1981-82 and served as a minister in various cabinets), journalist and historian (was Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Florence).

Luca's thesis investigated the policies that Fascist Italy implemented towards foreign Jews in the territories of southeastern France that the Italian Army occupied between 1942 and 1943. It offered a more nuanced explanation of the Fascist government’s decision not to hand over foreign Jews to the Nazi ally, despite persecuting Jews domestically since 1938, and thereby save them from deportation to the death camps in Eastern Europe.

'I am very pleased and proud to receive this prestigious award. I am grateful to my former supervisors, Professors Donald Bloxham and Pertti Ahonen, and to my viva examiners, Professor Aristotle Kallis and Dr Stephan Malinowski, for their support and guidance.' said Luca. 'I was very fortunate to do my PhD at the University of Edinburgh, not only because it is a leading academic institution, but also because there I met many new friends who helped me make the most of the exciting and challenging years of the PhD.'

The School sends its warmest congratulations to Luca who will be postdoctoral fellow at Yad Vashem's International Institute for Holocaust Research in Jerusalem from October to December 2017 and goes on to be a Leverhulm Trust Early Career Fellow at the University of Leicester from January 2018.