Our essay aims to offer a biography of Elena Sengal (1911–1962), an Italian citizen of Ethiopian origin, whose life offers important elements to better understand both Fascist and postwar Italy. Elena was born into an Italo-Ethiopian family and became an Italian citizen after the naturalisation of her father, Sengal Workneh, a former Italian colonial subject and a lecturer in Amharic and Tigrinya at the Istituto Orientale in Naples. She grew up in Naples where she graduated and later held a teaching position, following in her father’s footsteps. When in 1939 her partner, Guido Cucci, fell in Ethiopia fighting the Ethiopian resistance, Elena found herself alone with a newborn child and struggled to make a living. Her life did not improve with the end of Fascism. Indeed, in postwar Italy it became so unbearable that she relocated to Ethiopia. However, racism and exclusion accompanied her life in the East African country too. This biography is based on archival materials as well as a body of personal letters of Elena Sengal, kindly made available by her granddaughter Maria Elena Cucci.

本文旨在提供埃塞俄比亚裔意大利公民埃琳娜·森加尔（Elena Sengal，1911-1962 年）的传记，她的生平为更好地了解法西斯主义和战后意大利提供了重要因素。Elena 出生于一个意大利-埃塞俄比亚家庭，在她的父亲 Sengal Workneh 归化后成为意大利公民，Sengal Workneh 是前意大利殖民者，在那不勒斯东方学院担任阿姆哈拉语和提格里尼亚语讲师。她在那不勒斯长大，毕业后追随父亲的脚步担任教职。1939 年，当她的伴侣 Guido Cucci 在埃塞俄比亚与埃塞俄比亚抵抗运动的战斗中阵亡时，Elena 发现自己独自一人带着一个刚出生的孩子，为生计而苦苦挣扎。她的生活并没有随着法西斯主义的结束而改善。事实上，在战后的意大利，她搬到了埃塞俄比亚，这变得如此难以忍受。然而，种族主义和排斥也伴随着她在这个东非国家的生活。本传记以档案资料以及 Elena Sengal 的私人信件为基础，由她的孙女 Maria Elena Cucci 慷慨提供。