Michela Schiff Giorgini

Michela Schiff Giorgini Paleologo Diana née Beomonte (Padua, 30 Ocobter 1923–Benissa, 3 July 1978) was an Italian egyptologist and actor, who is remembered for her extensive work in today's Sudan at Soleb on the River Nile where from 1957 she conducted excavations of the Temple of Amenhotep III. During the 20 years she spent in the area, she went on to investigate the temple of Queen Tiye at Sedeinga, and the tomb of Taharqa at Nuri. The Michela Schiff Giorgini Foundation was established in 1984 to preserve her memory and promote Egyptology. Her research is well documented in her many books and publications, beginning with Soleb: Volume 1 in 1965.

Biography Michela Schiff Giorgini at her doctorate reception (Pisa, 1971)Born on 30 October 1923 in Padua, Michela Beomonte was the daughter of the officer Belisarion Beomonte and his wife Gemma Lucchesi. She studied at a liceo artistico and, like her older sister, Maria, she attempted to pursue a career in cinema. She had starring roles in Roberto Rossellini's A Pilot Returns in 1942, and then in Mario Mattoli's The Three Pilots and Gherardo Gherardi's Il nostro prossimo.

In 1946 she married Giorgio Schiff Giorgini, a successful banker whose family had close connections with the University of Pisa where his father, Robert Schiff, was a professor. In the vicinity, at Nuri the tomb of the Ethiopian Pharaoh Taharqa was discovered.

Awards and distinctions In addition to her honorary doctorate (1971), Schiff Giorgini received many distinctions, including the Medal of Science and Culture from the Republic of Sudan, Commander of Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, Commander of the Ordre national du Mérite (France) and Knight of the Legion of Honour.

Filmography

A Pilot Returns (1942) The Three Pilots (1942) Il nostro prossimo (1943)