Janina Ramirez

Janina Sara Maria Ramirez (; Maleczek; born 7 July 1980), sometimes credited as Nina Ramirez, is a British art historian, cultural historian, and TV presenter. She specialises in interpreting symbols and examining works of art within their historical context.

Education and academic career Ramirez went to St Bernard's Catholic Grammar School in Slough, Berkshire, where she was head girl. She gained a degree in English literature, specialising in Old and Middle English, from St Anne's College, Oxford, before completing her postgraduate studies at the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York. She earned a PhD degree on "The symbolic life of birds in Anglo-Saxon England" , which led to a lectureship in York's Art History Department, followed by lecturing posts at the University of Winchester, the University of Warwick, and the University of Oxford. In 2021, Ramirez became Research Fellow in History of Art at Harris Manchester College, Oxford.

In January 2024, Ramirez became a Visiting Professor of Medieval Studies at the University of Lincoln.

Personal life Her grandfather was Polish. Ramirez and her Spanish husband have two children. At 14, she played bass in a band with Krissi Murison as lead singer. Ramirez was in a punk band, The Role Models, while at Oxford but chose finishing her degree over touring with the band. The Viking Sagas, BBC Four, May 2011 Britain's Most Fragile Treasure, BBC Four, October 2011 Illuminations: The Private Lives of Medieval Kings, 3-part series, BBC Four, January 2012 Chivalry and Betrayal: The Hundred Years' War, 3-part series, BBC Four, February 2013 Architects of the Divine: The First Gothic Age, BBC Four, October 2014 Saints and Sinners: Britain's Millennium of Monasteries, 3-part series, BBC Four, February 2015 The Quizeum, A museum-based quiz panel show, BBC Four, April 2015 The Search for the Lost Manuscript: Julian of Norwich, BBC Four, July 2016 The Olmec Heads, SBS ONE HD, 2019 An Art Lover's Guide, BBC Four, May 2017 In Search of Arcadia, BBC Four, August 2017 England's Reformation: Three Books that Changed a Nation, BBC Four, October 2017 Art on BBC: The Genius of Leonardo Da Vinci, BBC Four, May 2018 Raiders of the Lost Past with Janina Ramirez, BBC Four, September 2019 – 1 The Sutton Hoo Hoard (broadcast 4 September 2019) Handmade in Bolton – presenter, featuring Shaun Greenhalgh and narrated by Waldemar Januszczak, BBC Four, October 2019 Lost Worlds and Hidden Treasures, 3-part series, Apple TV, May 2021

Publications