Gianluca Bo

Profile

Gianluca Bo is currently pursuing a doctoral degree at La Sapienza University of Rome in the Department of History, Anthropology, Religions, Art, and Performance (SARAS). His research interests centre on the field of European colonial and postcolonial history, with particular focus on the settler colonies in Africa during the 20th century. His doctoral thesis investigates the category of the Italian poor whites in Italian East Africa (1936–1941), comparing the Italian and English colonial contexts. He holds a Bachelor's degree in History from the University of Turin (2020) and a Master's degree in History and Oriental Studies from the Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna (2023). 
He previously served as a research assistant for the project 'The Italian Community in Ethiopia between 1941 and 1974', funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Comitato Italiani all’Estero Addis Abeba (COMITES). Since October 2022, he has been engaged in research activities in Addis Ababa at the Institute of Ethiopian Studies (IES) and the National Archive and Library Agency (ENALA). He has been a Visiting Master's Student (November–December 2022) and Visiting Researcher (April–July 2024) at the IES. He is a member of the Italian Society for the Study of Contemporary History (SISSCO), the Association for the African Studies in Italy (ASAI) and the Association for the Study of Modern Italy (ASMI). In his research and scientific publications, he employs a diverse array of archival sources, including unpublished testimonies of Italian settlers and missionaries, and colonial documentation held in archives of former Italian colonies.