Esther Menascè graduated first from the University of Milan and then from the Columbia University. In addition to working as an upper secondary school teacher of English at the Liceo Scientifico “Leonardo da Vinci” in Milan until 1978, Menascè made a long academic career, beginning at the Bocconi University in 1954. Here she obtained a position first as a teaching assistant of English Language and Literature, and later as an English language instructor (lettore) until the termination of the degree program in 1972. While teaching at Bocconi in the academic year 1956/1957, Menascè was awarded a bursary for training in the USA. This gave her the opportunity to investigate issues underpinning the teaching of English as a second language.
In 1967/1968 Menascè became professor of English Language and Literature in the degree program in Foreign Languages and Literature within the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Padua, at its Verona site. In 1978 she moved to the Faculty of Arts of the University of Milan, where she was appointed associate professor in 1983, a position she held until she retired in 2000.
Esther Menascè’s family came from Rhodes when it was ruled by the Kingdom of Italy. The family were part of the large, ancient Sephardic community that had inhabited the Greek island until it was decimated during the Holocaust in July 1944. Menascè’s personal investment in preserving her roots is testified by her numerous publications on the history of her community. Her profound connection to her Jewish heritage is also evident in her essays exploring the intersection between the Jewish and the Anglo-American literary tradition.
