Ethiopia is a unique country in Africa, with an impressive historiography, that fascinated many Russian scholars during the 20^th century. Maria Veniaminovna Right (1922-2001) is one of them. She was a member of the Institute of Ethnography in Moscow, where she taught Amharic and organized many expeditions in Ethiopia. The experience of Maria Veniaminovna Right is a good opportunity to speak about the tradition of Ethiopian studies in Russia and the role of Russian scholars in this field of research. This tradition is relatively unknown in Italy and perhaps in Europe as well.

The aim of publishing Maria Veniaminovna Right's autobiography is to break this isolation and to let Russian studies known to a wider audience.