Researchers
Isabel Murta Pina
Principal Researcher at CCCM, Isabel Murta Pina holds a MA (2000) and a PhD (2009) in History from the School of Social Sciences and Humanities (FCSH), NOVA University of Lisbon. She has also obtained Post-Doc in Classical Studies from the School of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon (FLUL) (2023). She is an affiliated researcher at CHAM – Centre for the Humanities (NOVA University of Lisbon | Azores University), and at the Centre for Classical Studies (CEC) at FLUL. She is also a permanent member at the Maritime Academy, as well as a member of the Renaissance Society of America (RSA) and the International Society of Jesuit Studies (SIEJ). Between 2006 and 2011, she taught at the Institute of Oriental Studies at the Catholic University of Portugal; and between 2011 and 2014, at the Bachelor’s program in Asian Studies at FLUL. Her research focus on intercultural relations between Europe and Asia, particularly Ming-Qing China, including Macau, the Jesuit mission in China, and the processes of circulation, reception, and cultural and material transfers. At CCCM, she took part in the project Tomás Pereira, S.J. (1646–1708). Life, Work, Times (CCCM: 2006–2012) and conducted the project Álvaro Semedo, S.J. (1585–1658). Between 2018 and 2022, she was also a researcher at the project Res Sinicae. A Database of Latin and Portuguese Sources on China (16th-18th centuries) (PTDC/LLT-OUT/31941/2017), funded by the FCT and hosted at CEC-FLUL.
Currently, her primary research focuses on two areas: the History of Missionary Linguistics, deals with the pioneering processes of knowledge and learning of Chinese languages by Catholic missionaries, since the late 16th century; the second line of research, Missionaries and Materialities, explores the economic and finances of the Jesuit missions in East Asia, focusing on the figure of the procurator. This includes issues related to the global circulation of people, products, and knowledge during the Early Modern period. In the framework of this latter line, she coordinates the project Jesuit Procurators of the East Asian Missions. Business, Materialities, Networks, and Global Exchanges in the Early Modern Period [CCCM-I&D/L1/2024].
She has participated in and organized several academic meetings and published books, book chapters, and articles. For a more detailed CV, see: