Fabio Sappino

Fabio Sappino is a PhD candidate in International History and Graduate Teaching Assistant for the course HY116 - International Politics since 1914: Peace and War.

Before joining LSE, Fabio was allievo ordinario (honours student) at the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna di Pisa, where he earned a Master's in Political Science. At the University of Pisa he obtained both his Bachelor's in Political Science and his Master's in International Studies. In 2022 he became Teaching and Tutoring Assistant in History of Political Institutions at the Department of Political Science of the University of Pisa. He also spent a period studying Law at the University of Vienna. He has previously worked as Junior Research Assistant for the "UN mediation in Libya 2014-2022" project at Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies and as an intern for the Political Department for the Mediterranean, the Middle East and Afghanistan at the Permanent Mission of Italy to the UN – New York.

In 2024, Fabio was awarded the Ermenegildo Zegna Founder's Scholarship for exceptionally promising Italian graduates and the London Arts and Humanities Partnership (LAHP) Studentship. In 2025 he received the Gail Braybon Prize for the best paper by a postgraduate student at a Society conference.

Beyond academia, Fabio is actively engaged in public history, serving as the historical consultant for the docufilm Eredi di una strage. In this role, he coordinates the historical reconstruction of the 1944 Cibeno massacre, promoting collective memory through educational screenings and public debates across Italy.

Topic of research: His current research project aims to reconstruct a collective biography of Italian colonial governors from 1897 to 1935. This research seeks to analyse the ability of the governors to establish themselves as geopolitical actors beyond their administrative functions and the ways in which the governors interacted with traditional non-European authorities. The focus on individuals will also allow to shed light on the elements of continuity and rupture in the evolution of Italian colonial administration.

Provisional thesis title: “Empire of Governors: a Collective Biography of Italian Colonial Governors”

Supervisors: Dr David Motadel and Professor Charles Burdett (SAS - School of Advanced Studies)

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Expertise: Italian colonialism, Fascism, Anglo-Italian Relations, Red Sea

Awards: Gail Braybon Prize for the best paper by a postgraduate student at a Society conference (awarded at the International Society for First World War Studies 2025 Conference ‘Seas’ at Thessaloniki).

Conference papers:

• 'At the court of Yahya. The Italo-Yemeni Treaty of 1926 and the visit of the Yemeni delegation in Italy in 1927'. Seminar "Self and Other in Italian Colonial Memories: Perspectives Across Borders" - Senate House. 3 June 2025.
• 'Strangling the Imperial Artery: The imperial rivalry between London and Rome in the Red Sea'. British International History Group (BIHG) 33rd Annual Conference - University of East Anglia, 3-5 September 2025.
• 'This Sea Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us: Imperial Competition in the Red Sea during First World War'. International Society for First World War Studies (ISFWWS) 11th conference "Seas" - University of Thessaloniki, 1-3 October 2025.

Fellowships/grants:

• Ermenegildo Zegna Founder's Scholarship (2024)
• London Arts and Humanities Partnership (LAHP) Studentship (2024-2027, Grant number AH/R012679/1)