Ignazio Guidi, Martino Mario Moreno, Enico Cerulli, studiosi dell'Etiopia

Ignazio Guidi, Martino Mario Moreno and Enrico Cerulli marked in a permanent way the studies on institutions and languages of the ‘Ethiopian’ region. As academics they left a unique legacy, still traceable in their publications, and they gave an indelible imprint to the subsequent generations of researchers, until today. As civil servants in different admnistrative offices they contributed to familiarize their country, then still narrow-minded, with the traditional East African cultures. Nevertheless they had to come to terms with the ideological context of the contemporary Euope, marked by racist and colonial ideas, and they took part actively in that political mood. A sincere tribute to their scientific talent cannot be separated from asking ourselves about the reasons and the outcomes of their cultural and political militancy. This paper has been delivered on the occasion of the workshop “Cinque Grandi Italiani tra Africa e Oriente”, held at the Circolo del Ministero degli Affari Esteri in Rome, 10 November 2015