Naples-born Marilina Betrò is full professor of Egyptology at Pisa University, where she completed her studies before specialising at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris (Sorbonne).
She has directed an archaeological mission in Egypt since 2003 in the necropolis of ancient Thebes (Luxor).
At the end of 2012 she was appointed President of the newly created Museum System of Pisa University.
He research interests have led her to work extensively in and with museums and also to organise much-appreciated exhibitions in Italy and abroad (“Ippolito Rosellini and the Dawn of Egyptology”, Egyptian Museum of Cairo, Egypt, 2010; “Lungo il Nilo”, Pisa, Palazzo BLU, 2010; “Kenamun, l’undicesima mummia”, Pisa 2014).
For many years she has been actively interested in the innovative use of electronic and computer technologies in archaeological and Egyptological research: over the past years she has directed several projects that focus on the innovative application of Virtual and Augmented Reality to archaeology, on the facial reconstruction of mummies and on the digitisation of the unpublished drawings and manuscripts of Ippolito Rosellini, the archaeologist who directed the Franco-Tuscan expedition to Egypt in 1828-29 together with J.F. Champollion – the decipherer of hieroglyphics. The project is available to the public with a searchable database (www.progettorosellini.com).
She is the author of around 200 publications and several books, including “Geroglifici” (Mondadori Electa 2010) which has been translated into major European languages and also into Japanese and Chinese.