Dec. 28 – Mauro Perani, professor of Hebrew at the Department of Cultural Heritage in the University of Bologna, was awarded the degree of Doctor Philosophiae Honoris Causa of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The Israeli university, as stated on the website of the University of Bologna, thus recognizes Perani’s “great contribution to research in the field of Hebrew manuscripts and progress in different fields of Jewish studies, thanks to his books and articles, especially within the Italian Ghenizà project.” The title will be awarded on June 16, 2013, in Jerusalem, at the Rothberg amphitheater on the campus of Mount Scopus, at the annual meeting of the University. “The Italian Ghenizà project, – says the letter to prof. Perani signed by the President and Dean of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem – in which you have been active as a researcher since 1984 and which you have led for two decades, was set up in order to find all fragments of Hebrew manuscripts present in Italian book bindings and archives, and, in the last ten years, it has extended its activities to include the Gerona archives in Spain. This project discovered, photographed and cataloged about 13,000 fragments of Hebrew texts of various content including Talmudic literature, biblical commentaries, Jewish philosophy, Hebrew language, Jewish history, and other fields, and some works hitherto unknown. You were the supervisor of this vital enterprise, the fruits of which have made a significant contribution to the advancement of Jewish studies, with impressive dedication, professionalism and creativity, in close collaboration with the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem, and many scholars of the Hebrew University.”
