The Helen & Howard R.
Marraro Prize in Italian History

The Marraro Prize at a Glance

Please be sure to consult the submission rules and the rest of the information on this page for the full award requirements.
What it is:

The Marraro Prize honors a book or article on Italian or Italo-American history or relations.

What works are eligible:

Any book or article with a 2020 imprint date.

Awarded:

Annually

Purse:

$1,500

Winner announced:

October 2021

Submission instructions:

Complete the online form and have three hard-copy versions of your work available for postal mailing.

Submit →

Submissions open: March 1, 2021
Submission deadline: May 15, 2021

About the Marraro Prize

The Helen & Howard R. Marraro Prize in Italian History is given annually to the author of a book that is judged by a committee of experts to be the most distinguished work dealing with Italian history or Italo-American history or relations that has been published in a preceding twelve-month period. It is named in memory of Howard R. Marraro (1879-1972), a Columbia University professor and the author of more than a dozen books on Italian literature, history, and culture.

In his last will Professor Marraro bequeathed to the Association a sum to be invested as a fund, the income from which would be awarded each year as a prize. The present amount of the prize is $1500.

Submission Rules

The general rules for submission are:

  1. Entries must be published in English by historians whose usual residence is in North America.
  2. Books with a copyright of 2019 are eligible for the 2020 award.
  3. Nomination submissions may be made by an author or by a publisher. Publishers may submit as many entries as they wish. Authors or publishers may submit the same book for multiple AHA prizes.
  4. Nominators must complete an online prize submission form for each book submitted.
  5. One copy of each entry must be sent to each committee member and clearly labeled “Marraro Prize Entry.” Print copies preferred unless otherwise indicated. If only e-copy is available, please contact review committee members beforehand to arrange submission format.

Please note: Entries must be received by May 15, 2020, to be eligible for the 2020 competition. Entries will not be returned. Recipients will be announced on the AHA website in October 2020 and recognized during a ceremony at the January 2021 AHA annual meeting in Seattle.

If you have questions, please contact the prize administrator.

Submit →

Submissions open: March 1, 2021
Submission deadline: May 15, 2021

Past Winners

YearAwardeeWorkPublisher 
2020Giuliana Chamedes A Twentieth-Century Crusade: The Vatican’s Battle to Remake Christian Europe Harvard University Pressbuy
2019Pamela O. LongEngineering the Eternal City: Infrastructure, Topography, and the Culture of Knowledge in Late Sixteenth-Century RomeUniversity of Chicago Pressbuy
2018Paul F. GrendlerThe Jesuits and Italian Universities, 1548-1773Catholic University of America Pressbuy
2017John HoweBefore the Gregorian Reform: The Latin Church at the Turn of the First MillenniumCornell University Pressbuy
2016Andrew D. BernsThe Bible and Natural Philosophy in Renaissance ItalyCambridge University Pressbuy
2015Nino ZchomelidseArt, Ritual, and Civic Identity in Medieval Southern ItalyThe Pennsylvania State University Pressbuy
2014Daniel StolzenbergEgyptian Oedipus: Athanasius Kircher and the Secrets of AntiquityThe University of Chicago Pressbuy
2013Areli MarinaThe Italian Piazza Transformed: Parma in the Communal AgeThe Pennsylvania State University Pressbuy
2012E. Natalie RothmanBrokering Empire: Trans-Imperial Subjects Between Venice and IstanbulCornell University Pressbuy
2011Michael EbnerOrdinary Violence in Mussolini’s ItalyCambridge Univ. Pressbuy
2010Stanislao PuglieseBitter Spring: A Life of Ignazio SiloneFarrar, Straus and Girouxbuy