Francesca Orsini

Francesca Orsini FBA is an Italian scholar of South Asian literature. She is currently Professor of Hindi and South Asian Literature at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. She previously lectured at the University of Cambridge, before joining SOAS in 2006. Orsini is an Italian citizen, and has not applied for either UK citizenship or permanent residence.

Visa violation accusation in India On 20 October 2025, she was denied entry into India at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi and sent back. According to officials associated with India’s Ministry of Home Affairs, Orsini had been blacklisted in March 2025 for violating the conditions of her tourist visa, allegedly by undertaking academic/research activities during an earlier visit that were not permitted under that visa category. Earlier reports said that no reason was initially given to Orsini when she was stopped at the airport, and her husband also said that the authorities had not explained the decision to her.

Honours In July 2017, Orsini was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and social sciences. Her scholarship focuses on Hindi and Urdu literature, multilingual literary cultures, book and print history, and the literary traditions of North India.

Selected works