Anna Foa is an eminent Italian historian and writer, and former professor of modern history at the Sapienza University of Rome. As the daughter of the famous anti-fascist activist Vittorio Foa, she inherits a profound Jewish intellectual tradition. Her academic focus is on Jewish history, the Inquisition, and contemporary memory politics.
Foa holds a prestigious reputation in the field of Jewish historiography. Her works, such as The Jews of Europe after the Black Death, are considered classic texts. She excels at tracing the lives of the Jewish people in Europe through subtle historical fragments and offers unique insights into the construction of historical memory. As a public intellectual, she frequently contributes to major Italian newspapers, striving to defend historical truth and oppose all forms of prejudice and discrimination.
Foa’s stance leans toward a progressive, humanitarian critique. She has signed numerous international open letters calling for a ceasefire and has harshly criticized the Netanyahu government’s policies of military expansion. She is particularly concerned with the “instrumentalization of memory,” opposing the use of Shoah trauma to justify modern-day occupation. One of her representative comments is: “Jewish memory should be translated into empathy for others, rather than becoming a wall that supports oppression.” She advocates for Palestinian sovereignty through diplomatic means, believing that the cycle of hatred can only truly end by acknowledging Palestinian dignity.