Alfonso CAMPISI was born in Trapani (Italy) and is Italian-Tunisian. He is a university full professor of Romance and Italian Philology at the Faculty of Letters, Arts and Humanities of the University of Manouba (Tunisia); President of the first Chair in the world of Sicilian Language and Culture; Member of the National Doctoral Commission ‘Languages’ in Tunisia and responsible for the doctorate in Italian; President for the African continent of A.I.S.L.L.I.-UNESCO (International Association for Italian Language and Literature Studies), he collaborates with the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (USA) and Paul Valéry, Montpellier 3 (France). 

He is an academic and Chairman of the Scientific Council of the « Accademia della Lingua Siciliana » in Italy. His latest research focuses on the identity, language and history of Tunisia and Sicilian and Maltese emigrants in Tunisia, France and the United States.

Prof. Campisi is also a Member of the International Research Team on ‘Border writing: creations, migrations, cultural transfers’, Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, Montpellier, France.

He is a major contributor to the cultural section of the national French-language daily newspaper ‘La Presse’ in Tunisia, Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Italy 2020), Presidency of the Italian Republic International Proserpina Prize (Italy 2016) for Sicilian intellectuals who have distinguished themselves in the world. He was also awarded the International Prize for Scientific Research (Tunis 2022).

Some of his publications include: Ifriqiyya et Siqilliyya, un jumelage méditerranéen (Tunis 2010); La Tunisie, sa langue, son histoire (Tunis 2011); Filologia siciliana, studio filologico delle diverse parlate di Sicilia (Tunis 2013); L'instrumentalisation linguistique, culturelle et politique de Mario Scalesi (Tunis 2013); Trilinguisme en Tunisie (Tunis 2013); Voyageurs arabes en Sicile normande, XI-XII siècles (Tunis 2014); Mémoire et contes de la Méditerranée : l'émigration sicilienne en Tunisie XIX et XX siècles (Tunis, 2016); Mparamu lu sicilianu (New York 2019); I meticci italo-africani nel Corno d'Africa: un percorso nella memoria post coloniale italiana ( Rome 2020); Terres Promises ( Tunis 2020), Migrazioni (Catania 2020); Migrazioni e appartenenze, identità composite e plurilinguismo ( Milano-Udine 2021); Parole e immagini di una Storia « Minore » , Tunis 2024.

Through the Erasmus+ ICM teaching mobility, Prof. Campisi met with colleagues from the University of Malta and the Mediterranean Institute to continue his research on the Maltese community from Tunisia living in Malta. He also conducted interviews with Maltese born in Tunisia for a forthcoming publication.

The opportunity to present his new book, Parole e Immagini di una Storia Minore, l'Emigrazione Siciliana in Tunisia nel XIX e XX Secolo, at the Mediterranean Institute, allowed him to create interesting parallels between Maltese emigration to Tunisia and the recent migratory flows from North Africa to the EU.