Elisa Chimenti

Italian by birth, Elisa Chimenti was raised in Morocco. She travelled around frequently with her father, personal doctor to Sultan Mawlay Hassan, and was often the guest of Berber tribesmen from whom she collected many tales and stories. After finishing her education in Europe, she returned to Tangier, where she studied Semitic languages and acquired a sound knowledge of the Koran. She was the only European ever invited to teach in an Arabic University, and established the first Italian school in Tangier. She was awarded the Italian Government Order of Merit in 1959. “Mauritania”, an important Spanish periodical said of Mrs Chimenti: “Her works can be compared to brilliantly polished stones… she is without question one of the greatest figures in Moroccan folklore literature.”