DE MADDALENA LINDA

Linda De Maddalena has been Tenure-Track Researcher in Roman Law at the Department of Law, Economics and Cultures (Dipartimento di Diritto, Economia e Culture) of the University of Insubria since September 2025.
In 2021 she obtained the National Scientific Qualification (Abilitazione Scientifica Nazionale) for the functions of Associate Professor in the scientific-disciplinary sector of Roman Law and Laws of Antiquity.
After earning her Master's degree in Law with honors (cum laude) from the University of Milan (Università degli Studi di Milano), with a thesis dedicated to the institution of adoption in Roman law, in 2015 she obtained her Ph.D., publishing a monographic work on the origins of the prohibition of the pactum de quota litis in Roman law, with a look at the regulation of this matter in Italian and Swiss law. The degree was obtained at the University of Milan under a co-supervision (co-tutelle) arrangement with the University of Bern (Universität Bern).
Her scientific activity, which includes articles in Class A scientific journals and contributions to edited volumes, focuses primarily on topics of Roman private law, such as slavery and relationships of a family and contractual nature, with particular attention to the Roman law-tradition and to the continuity between Roman legal institutions and modern European law.
Within this field of research is the monograph “Riserva di gradimento nella compravendita. Diritto romano e tradizione romanistica” (2024), which analyzes the institution of the reservation of approval (‘riserva di gradimento’) in Roman sales contracts through a historical-comparative approach.
From 2015 to 2017 she took part in the three-year research project “Das romanistische Meisterwerk von Philipp Lotmar”, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and conducted at the University of Bern, which dealt with the posthumous publication of the manuscript by the German jurist Philipp Lotmar devoted to the treatment of error in Roman law.
She sits on the editorial boards of Roman law-studies series and journals, and regularly takes part —including as a speaker— in numerous national and international conferences, on several occasions also contributing to the organization of the event.
She cultivates international collaborative relationships as well, including through the various periods spent abroad as a “Visiting Researcher”.
On the teaching side, at the University of Insubria she holds the chair of History of Roman Law and has been co-holder of the course Roman History for the degree program in Tourism Sciences. Previously, at the University of Bern, she held numerous Roman law courses offered within the German-language Law degree program, as well as numerous seminar activities dedicated to the study of Italian and German legal terminology, aimed mainly at Swiss students who are not native German speakers.
She is a member of the AiQuaR Commission of the DIDEC at the University of Insubria, responsible for the Department's self-assessment and review activities.