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Dear Dr. Giorgio Rota Giovanni Miani was an Italian explorer who traveled extensively in the Sudan. According to R. Hill's _Biographical Dictionary of the Sudan_ (Frank Cass 1967), p. 238 Miani was born in Rovigo from humble parents. He later moved to Venice, where he wanted to learn the profession of wood-carver, but there he begun to study music and even wrote an opera. After having fought for the Roma Republic, he had to emigrate to Egypt. With the support of the Khedives of Egypt, he started an exploratory mission to the southern Sudan, in particular in the Upper Nile in the land of the Bari, and managed to reach the Lake Albert. There is more in Hill's book, which should be easily available. In any case, Rovigo, the city where Miani was born, has recently organized a conference and an exhibition about him, called "Il contributo veneto alla conoscenza dell'Africa. Giovanni Miani (Rovigo 1810 - Zaire 1872) this is their web site: http://ww w.concordi.it/img_index/attivita/arazzi_miani.htm More importantly, at the "Accademia dei Concordi" di Rovigo (http://www.concordi.it/), they have an important collection by and about Miani. If you check their library catalogue, you will find a wealth of sources about this Italian explorer. I have seen a published edition of his "Diari and Carteggi, but I am certain the have the original manuscripts. Your colleague can try to call the Accademia dei Concordi for having more information. *Diari e carteggi : 1858-1872 / di Giovanni Miani ; a cura di Gabriele Rossi-Osmida. - Milano : Longanesi, [1973]. - 481 p., [2] c. di tav. : ill. ; 19 cm. - (I cento libri ; 36)* ** **All the Best Elena Vezzadini SMI, Bergen
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