Arabist Manuela Marín passes away

A leading figure as an Arabist and historian in the various fields of Arab studies in which she worked, Marín was a teacher, a role model for scholars and a source of inspiration for all who came into contact with her.

The intellectual career of Manuela Marín (March 12, 1946–July 19, 2026) began with her studies at the Universidad Complutense (1962–1967), where she later returned as a professor after spending several years (1969–1976) at the Spanish-Arabic Cultural Institute in Baghdad, then affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Upon her return to Spain in 1977, her work at the IHAC in Madrid involved organizing courses, conferences, and conferences, helping launch the journal Awrāq, and contributing to the “Félix María Pareja” Islamic Library, which was particularly dear to her. Last of all, she spent most of her professional life at the CSIC, where she retired as a Research Professor in 2011. Her retirement, however, did not mark the end of her professional activity. Instead, it ushered in a particularly prolific period of publications, conferences and scientific meetings. 

After defending her doctoral dissertation at the Universidad Complutense (1975), which focused on the economic history of the Middle East during the first two centuries of Islam, she devoted herself in-depth to studies of Al-Andalus and the medieval Islamic West, making essential contributions to the fields of onomastics, religiosity and hagiography, as well as to the social and intellectual history of Al-Andalus. Her exceptional contribution to the history of women in Islamic societies deserves a separate mention, with a special focus on the women of Al-Andalus, but also covering other cross-cutting aspects in which she demonstrated her sharp analysis of classical Arabic texts. 

Her interest in the history of food arose since the beginning of her career, and her work in this field has left a legacy in the form of translations and studies so significant that they earned her the “National Gastronomy Award for Food Research and Innovation” in 2022, for her contributions to the food and cuisine of Al-Andalus. 

Her scholarly curiosity led her to combine this work with her interest in the contemporary world, particularly in the history of our discipline and in Spanish-Moroccan relations during the colonial era, a field in which several of her most recent publications stood out, leading her to explore archives and libraries far removed from topics involving Al-Andalus. 

A keen eye for texts and insatiable curiosity led her to take an interest in little-explored historical subjects and settings: clothing, the figures on the margins of history, or themes that came to life when she brought them to light, including even a manuscript that had been gathering dust in a public library, which she rescued from oblivion. Her work was not always a solo endeavor, though: she was a wonderful partner on joint projects and an excellent communicator with a passion and talent for spreading information that kept her schedule full until recently. 

Few scholars have explored such varied periods and such diverse topics and methodologies; she did so with the rigor and brilliance that characterize each and every one of her works. Behind her fundamental and extraordinary works lay a humble personality with an aversion to any kind of pomp and circumstance. We, however, have an obligation to remember her and celebrate the wisdom she shared with everyone.


Links to her publications: 
CSIC - https://digital.csic.es/cris/rp/rp14649 
Research Gate - https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Manuela-Marin-3/research 
Academia - https://independent.academia.edu/ManuelaMar%C3%ADn 
Dialnet - https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/autor?codigo=5223478