Ian Leslie Campbell (born 22 February 1945) is a British historian specialising in Ethiopia with a focus on the Italian occupation of Ethiopia. During his career, he worked together with Ethiopianist Richard Pankhurst.[1][2][3]

Ian Campbell laying Wreath at the Martyrs Monument, Addis Ababa, at the commemoration of the Yekatit 12 massacre, 19 February 2022

His first book on Italian colonialism in Ethiopia is The Plot to Kill Graziani (Addis Ababa University Press in 2010), an analysis of the assassination attempt on Rodolfo Graziani that took place on 19 February 1937. The Plot to Kill Graziani was declared Ethiopian Book of the Year by Richard Pankhurst,[4] presented by the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation,[5] and featured in Eland's travel series, Ethiopia Through Writers' Eyes[6].

His second book, The Massacre of Debre Libanos (AAU Press, 2014), reports the massacre of members of the Ethiopian Coptic Church in the monastery village of Debre Libanos in Italian East Africa between 21 and 29 May 1937. Campbell's findings were featured in the Italian documentaries Debre Libanos[7] and If Only I Were That Warrior.[8]

His third book is The Addis Ababa Massacre (Hurst, London & Oxford University Press, New York, 2017), an account of the atrocities following the attack on Rodolfo Graziani referred to as Yekatit 12. The book got recognition from a spectrum of international reviewers,[9][10][11] and in 2018 became available in an Italian edition, Il massacro di Addis Abeba (Rizzoli, 2018), raising a debate in Italy about the responsibilities of Italian colonialism.[12][13][14][15]

In 2022 Campbell published Holy War: The Untold Story of Catholic Italy's Crusade Against the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (Hurst).[16] In the book Campbell uncovers the involvement of the Italian Catholic Church in facilitating Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia, highlighting the complicity of key figures within the Vatican hierarchy, including Pope Pius XI, Secretary of State Eugenio Pacelli (who would later become Pius XII), and the archbishop of Milan Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster. The work was named one of the best book of 2002 by the American 'Foreign Affairs'[17] and obtained wide acclaim from a range of global critics.[18][19]

Bibliography edit

References edit

  1. ^ "17th International Conference of Ethiopian Studies" (PDF).
  2. ^ Pearce, Jeff (2017-02-19). "Remembering Richard Pankhurst". Medium. Retrieved 2021-10-19.
  3. ^ "Pankhurst, Richard, 2010, Interview conducted by Roman Herzog" (PDF).
  4. ^ Brüne, Stefan (2013). "Ian Campbell: Ethiopia 1937: The Plot to Kill Graziani. The Attempted Assassination of Mussolini's Viceroy". Aethiopica (in German). 16: 285–287. doi:10.15460/aethiopica.16.1.725. ISSN 2194-4024.
  5. ^ Meet ETV - Interview with Lan Campbell/Historian/Author The plot to Kill Graziani|, retrieved 2021-10-19
  6. ^ Stranger, Yves (2016). Ethiopia: Through Writers' Eyes. Eland. pp. 235–238. ISBN 978-1-78060-077-2.
  7. ^ Docu-Film: "Debre Libanos", retrieved 2021-10-18
  8. ^ "If Only I Were That Warrior – Official Website". Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  9. ^ "The Addis Ababa Massacre | Hurst Publishers". HURST. Retrieved 2021-10-18.
  10. ^ "King's College London War Studies Event: The Addis Ababa Massacre: Italy's National Shame".
  11. ^ #EBC MEET EBC interview with Ian Campbell /Historian/, retrieved 2021-10-19
  12. ^ Bettoli, Gigi (2019-08-25). "Yekatit 12: foibe etiopiche (e libiche). Quando il fascismo italiano sperimentò gli strumenti della Shoah in Africa". Storia Storie Pordenone (in Italian). Retrieved 2021-10-19.
  13. ^ "Gli italiani e il massacro di Addis Abeba". Itlodeo (in Italian). 2020-02-19. Retrieved 2021-10-19.
  14. ^ "I massacri del 1937: Addis Abeba e Debre Libanos". La Storia tutta (in Italian). Retrieved 2021-10-19.
  15. ^ Roveda, Roberto (2018-12-02). "#Letture controcorrente: Ian Campbell e il volto feroce del colonialismo italiano". L'Unione Sarda.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2021-10-19.
  16. ^ Campbell, Ian (2021). Holy War : the untold story of Catholic Italy's crusade against the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. London. ISBN 978-1-78738-477-4. OCLC 1198717708.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  17. ^ "The Best of Books 2022". Foreign Affairs. 2022-12-02. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  18. ^ "Holy War | Hurst Publishers". HURST. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  19. ^ WalleMarch/April 2022, Nicolas van de (2022-12-01). "Holy War: The Untold Story of Catholic Italy's Crusade Against the Ethiopian Orthodox Church". ISSN 0015-7120. Retrieved 2022-12-08.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)