Mariagrazia Russo

Mariagrazia Russo is a full professor of Portuguese and Brazilian Language and Translation at the University of International Studies of Rome (UNINT), where she also serves as Rector and Scientific Director of the University Language Center. Previously, she held roles at the University of Tuscia, including Associate Professor and coordinator of international doctoral programs. Her research focuses on medieval Portuguese philology, intercultural relations, Lusophone literary and historical studies, and missionary linguistics. She has extensively studied documents from Vatican archives, Portuguese diplomatic missions, and Italian-Portuguese cultural exchanges across centuries.

Educated at Sapienza University of Rome and the Sorbonne, Russo leads research groups in Italy and Portugal, including roles in the CLEPUL and CHAM centers. She has coordinated over 20 international research projects, published critically edited works on figures like Vasco da Gama and António Vieira, and organized conferences on topics ranging from colonial diplomacy to gender studies in Lusophone literature. A key member of organizations like the Italian Association of Portuguese and Brazilian Studies (AISPEB), she chairs the Vasco da Gama Institute (Camões Institute) and directs editorial series in Lusophone studies.

Russo’s work bridges philology, history, and cultural studies, emphasizing linguistic contact, toponymic analysis, and the role of language in identity formation. Her projects often involve archival discoveries, such as unpublished documents on the expulsion of Jesuits from Portugal and the diplomatic missions of Alexandre Metelo to China. She has advised doctoral theses on topics like Portuguese naming conventions and 16th-century song culture.