Maria Adank

Maria Adank is a Postdoctoral Fellow in History at the University of Chicago and a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellow. She holds dual affiliations with the University of Verona (Department of Cultures and Civilizations) and previously served as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Udine (2022-23). Her research focuses on gender history, material culture, and political agency in early modern European republics, particularly Venice and Genoa.

Her current project, OSpaMa (2024-26), examines female political agency in Venetian and Genoese republics through objects, spaces, and material culture. This interdisciplinary work challenges traditional historiography by analyzing artworks, written texts, and domestic furnishings to trace women’s influence in republican governance. Recent publications explore Venetian patrician families, early modern libraries, and sartorial politics.

Adank completed her Ph.D. in History at the University of Pisa (2021) with a dissertation on the Grimani di San Luca family’s material culture. An upcoming monograph, I Grimani di San Luca: Cultura materiale, genere e potere nella Venezia del Cinque e Seicento, will be published by Viella. Her work bridges art history, gender studies, and political history, emphasizing the interplay between material objects and social identity.