Giulio Busi

Prof. Dr. Giulio Busi is a distinguished C4 Professor of Jewish Studies at the Institute of Jewish Studies, part of the Department of History and Cultural Studies at the Free University of Berlin. Born in Italy, he earned his doctorate in Judaic Studies in 1989 and has held academic positions at the University of Venice (1992-1999) before joining the Free University of Berlin in 1999. He is a Fellow of the Accademia Nazionale Virgiliana in Mantua (since 2004) and serves on the Scientific Board of the Hanadiv Foundation in London (since 2003).

Busi's research centers on the history of Jewish mysticism and Jewish culture in late antiquity and the early modern period. His scholarly work spans Kabbalah studies, Jewish manuscript traditions, Hebrew literature, and Jewish-Christian intellectual exchanges during the Renaissance. He has made significant contributions to understanding Jewish mystical traditions, particularly through his extensive work on Giovanni Pico della Mirandola's Kabbalistic Library and the transmission of Jewish esoteric knowledge in early modern Europe.

His publications reveal a consistent focus on Jewish cultural history, with particular attention to the intersections between Jewish thought and broader European intellectual currents. Busi's research demonstrates how Jewish mystical traditions influenced and were influenced by Christian humanism, particularly through the study of Hebrew texts and Kabbalistic literature. His recent work has expanded into contemporary Jewish issues, including Shoah commemoration and modern Jewish identity.

Busi has served as editor for 'The Kabbalistic Library of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola' and 'Berlin Studies in Judaism,' while also contributing to the advisory boards of Materia Giudaica (Bologna) and Studia Rosenthaliana (Amsterdam). His extensive publication record includes numerous scholarly books, edited volumes, and over two hundred articles in both academic journals and major newspapers like Il Sole 24 Ore, where he has regularly contributed cultural commentary since the early 2000s.

Notably, a farewell conference for Prof. Busi is scheduled for June 19, 2025, suggesting an imminent conclusion to his tenure at the Free University of Berlin. Throughout his career, he has organized significant academic conferences on Jewish topics, including gatherings on Jewish travelers, strategies of cultural persistence, and the transmission of Hebrew knowledge between cultures.