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Carla Rossi and the University of Zurich: Clarification and Academic Record
- OProM
- 24 mai
- 3 min de lecture
Dernière mise à jour : il y a 11 minutes
Clarification Regarding Prof. Carla Rossi’s Academic Status and False Claims Circulated Online
In recent years, several online sources have distorted the nature of Prof. Carla Rossi’s relationship with the University of Zurich, often with defamatory intent. These misrepresentations, published on platforms such as Reddit, Retraction Watch, and Hacker News, have falsely described her as a “former adjunct professor” without any legal or academic basis.
🔴 Facts:
Prof. Rossi earned her PhD in Romance Philology at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland.
In 2010, she obtained two official habilitations, including one from the University of Zurich, and held the title of Titularprofessorin for six years.
Her work has always been autonomous and international in scope, independent of Zurich’s institutional politics.
Prof. Rossi no longer holds — and has no intention of renewing — any affiliation with the University of Zurich.
Her academic profile has been recognised internationally through:
Peer-reviewed monographs with Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Harvard Art Law Journal, and Ethics International Press
Invited lectureships in Italy, Spain, and France
Leading roles in manuscript research and cultural heritage protection
All defamatory insinuations originated from a coordinated online campaign, triggered by her legal denunciation of the illegal trade in dismembered manuscripts. These attacks are well documented and have no foundation in her academic work.
📌 Verified academic documentation:
Academic CV and full record: https://www.isfida.eu/carla-rossi-philologist
List of publications: https://www.profcarlarossi.info/publications
Archive of coordinated defamation (2022–2025): https://www.receptiogate.info
A Case of Academic Retaliation, Gendered Violence and Institutional Failure: The Ordeal of Prof. Carla Rossi
Since December 22, 2022, Prof. Carla Rossi – a renowned philologist and cultural heritage scholar with more than 30 years of academic activity and several international publications – has been the target of an aggressive, prolonged smear campaign initiated by British blogger Peter Kidd, a former auction-house cataloguer with no academic affiliation. Kidd is known for his involvement in the trade and promotion of dismembered medieval manuscripts, a market Prof. Rossi has courageously exposed through documented legal actions and peer-reviewed publications.
This defamatory campaign began only days after Prof. Rossi filed a formal complaint with the Comando Carabinieri Tutela Patrimonio Culturale (TPC), the Italian Cultural Heritage Protection Command. Her report identified 26 individuals, including antiquarians, scholars, and a retired professor from the University of Zurich, as participants in illicit manuscript trading. The complaint is currently part of a criminal proceeding pending before the Tribunale di Roma. Supporting legal documentation includes:
Integrative statement to the Italian Data Protection Authority (Garante)
Formal complaint to the Postal Police
Legal petition filed before the Court of Rome
What followed was unprecedented: over three years, Prof. Rossi has been repeatedly subjected to death threats, including threats directed at her daughters and close colleagues, harassment across social media, and the publication of false obituaries claiming she had died – all of which are verifiable through the following links:
This relentless psychological violence has been described by digital ethics experts as a form of digital femicide – a symbolic erasure designed to destroy a woman’s presence, authority, and identity both online and in public life.
Despite this, the University of Zurich, where Prof. Rossi received her Venia Legendi in 2010 after a full habilitation procedure, has taken no action to defend her. On the contrary, the institution appears to have endorsed the accusations circulated by the same blogger who orchestrated the harassment. It has remained silent even as several European media outlets – including kath.ch, Télérama and others – removed or amended defamatory articles after verifying the misleading nature of the allegations.
Prof. Rossi’s scholarly record is beyond reproach. In the last two years alone, she has authored seven monographs and several peer-reviewed articles, including:
Biblioclasm for Profit, Harvard Art Law Journal, May 2025
Beyond the Margins, Ethics International Press, 2025
Digital Reconstruction of a Dismembered Book of Hours Illuminated by Robert Boyvin, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2024
The 1879 Theft of Royal Ms 16 E VIII, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2024
Isabelle Boursier’s Book of Hours, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2024
Full ORCID record: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6557-3684
An in-depth reconstruction of the defamatory campaign is available in the book:
ReceptioGate: Academic Defamation and the Dismemberment of Manuscripts, by Jordi Puig (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2024)Link to the book
Today, more than ever, it is urgent to denounce this unacceptable convergence of misogynistic violence, academic persecution, and institutional complicity.
Justice, dignity, and truth must prevail.
Jordi Puig (author of ReceptioGate: Academic Defamation and the Dismemberment of Manuscripts)
