Elena Bacchin

Elena Bacchin is a Professor of Modern History at the University of Vienna’s Faculty of Historical and Cultural Studies, Department of History. She previously held academic positions as Associate Professor (2023-2024) and Assistant Professor (2021-2023) at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Global Fellow (2019-2022) at Columbia University and Ca’ Foscari, and a Lecturer at Queen Mary University of London (2017-2018).

• PhD in History, University of Padua (2007-2010)
• Doctoral Student, Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa (2011-2015)

Her research focuses on the transnational history of the 19th and 20th centuries, particularly political actors such as exiles, foreign fighters, and deportees. She examines the circulation of people, ideas, and practices across borders and their influence on political mobilization, repression, and the development of international solidarity networks. Her work also explores the history of nationalism, cultural history, and the relationship between political and religious identities. She contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals 10 (Reduced Inequalities) and 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions).

Recent publications analyze political deportation during the Risorgimento, memory of exiles in Fascist Italy, and transnational humanitarian movements. These studies emphasize forced migration, penal colonies, narrative construction, and the intersection of international law with state security.

• Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship
• Fellow at Remarque Institute, New York University
• Fellow at University of St Andrews
• Principal Investigator of the PRISON project (Italian Ministry of Research)

As Principal Investigator of the PRISON project, she investigates political repression and international solidarity networks. Her academic collaborations include visiting scholar appointments at the University of California San Diego, University of Oxford, and New York University.