David Abulafia (1949 - 2026)#

The AE is deeply saddened to announce the passing of Professor David Abulafia MAE, member of the History & Archaeology Section since 2002, on 24 January 2026.

David Abulafia (Gonville and University Caius College, Cambridge and member of the History & Archaeology section of the AE since 2002) passed away on Janu-ary 24. The news has caused profound sadness and consternation across the aca-demic world. With him, historical research has lost one of its most incisive inter-preters of the past. For decades, David Abulafia’s scholarship reshaped our un-derstanding of the Mediterranean and the wider maritime world, interpreting the sea was not so much as a boundary than as a space of encounter, exchange, and creativity.

From The Great Sea. A Humann History of the Mediterranean (2011) to The Boundless Sea (2019), his masterly studies traced with extraordinary clarity the movements of peoples, goods, and ideas across oceans and centuries. His capacity to weave eco-nomic, cultural, and environmental threads into a unified vision of human history was unmatched. Professor Abulafia’s writing combined rigorous scholarship with a rare eloquence, enabling his works to reach both specialist and general audienc-es without compromising intellectual depth.

Beyond his publications, Abulafia was a deeply respected teacher and mentor. His students and colleagues at Cambridge and elsewhere speak of his generosity, in-tellectual curiosity, and sharp wit – qualities that made every conversation with him rewarding but challenging. His influence on the study of maritime history, medieval Europe, and global connectivity will remain unforgotten.

For Academia Europaea, too, the loss of David Abulafia leaves a void that cannot easily be filled. Yet his legacy endures – in his books, in the generations of scholars he inspired, and in the renewed appreciation for the sea as a central actor in the human story. The world of historical inquiry is greatly diminished by his loss, but we will continue to be guided by the light of his vision.

Amélia Polónia MAE, the Chair of the History and Archaeology section