Maddalena Alvi

If you want to reach out, the best way to contact me is at : ma769(at)cantab.ac.uk.

I am interested in the cultural and economic history of war in twentieth-century Europe.

My doctoral research at the University of Cambridge delved into the history of the European Art Market during the First World War. This transnational and interdisciplinary study  examined the cultural, social, and economic transformations within British, French, and German-speaking auction markets, as well as significant trade spheres encompassing Italy, Switzerland, and Russia. I constructed a new art index to investigate market transformations as much as the socio-cultural changes experienced by a European bourgeoisie grappling with revolutions, inflation, and financial crises.

My monograph is forthcoming. An article that summarises my research interests and methodology is "The Land of Cockaigne: The German Art Market and the First World War", German History, Volume 38, Issue 4, December 2020, Pages 594–615, https://doi.org/10.1093/gerhis/ghaa038

Another area of interest is the history of the Cold War. I have co-authored on the role of the Vatican during the Cold War and German-Italian relations in the 1940s and 1950s.

Born and raised in Italy, prior to completing my PhD at the University of Cambridge, I studied in Freiburg (Germany), Bern, Saint Petersburg, and Oxford.

My postgraduate and doctoral studies in Britain were generously funded by the German National Merit Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes), the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the Harvard and Cambridge Centre for History and Economics.

I held  postdoctoral positions at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, where I was awarded the Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship, and at the German Historical Institute in Rome. 

My academic journey first brought me to the United Kingdom to pursue a master’s degree and a traineeship in the auction business at the University of Glasgow/Christie’s. During my studies, I held research positions within cultural foundations and museums across Britain, Germany, and Russia, and also participated in public history projects.