Janina Ramirez
Janina Sara Maria Ramirez, sometimes credited as Nina Ramirez, is a British art historian, cultural historian, and TV presenter. She specialises in interpreting symbols and examining works of art within their historical context.
Education and academic career
Ramirez went to St Bernard's Catholic Grammar School in Slough, Berkshire, where she was head girl. She gained a degree in English literature, specialising in Old and Middle English, from St Anne's College, Oxford, before completing her postgraduate studies at the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York. She earned a PhD degree on "The symbolic life of birds in Anglo-Saxon England", which led to a lectureship in York's Art History Department, followed by lecturing posts at the University of Winchester, fhe University of Warwick, and the University of Oxford.
Until 2021, Ramirez was the course director on the Certificate in History of Art at the University of Oxford Department for Continuing Education. In 2021, Ramirez became Research Fellow in History of Art at Harris Manchester College, Oxford.
In January 2024, Ramirez became a Visiting Professor of Medieval Studies at the University of Lincoln.
Personal life
Her grandfather was Polish. Ramirez and her Spanish husband have two children. At 14, she played bass in a band with Krissi Murison as lead singer. Ramirez was in a punk band, Role Models, while at Oxford but chose finishing her degree over touring with the band.
Television career
Treasures of the Anglo-Saxons, BBC Four, August 2010The Viking Sagas, BBC Four, May 2011Britain's Most Fragile Treasure, BBC Four, October 2011Illuminations: The Private Lives of Medieval Kings, 3-part series, BBC Four, January 2012Chivalry and Betrayal: The Hundred Years' War, 3-part series, BBC Four, February 2013Architects of the Divine: The First Gothic Age, BBC Four, October 2014Saints and Sinners: Britain's Millennium of Monasteries, 3-part series, BBC Four, February 2015The Quizeum, A museum-based quiz panel show, BBC Four, April 2015The Search for the Lost Manuscript: Julian of Norwich, BBC Four, July 2016An Art Lover's Guide, BBC Four, May 2017In Search of Arcadia, BBC Four, August 2017England's Reformation: Three Books that Changed a Nation, BBC Four, October 2017Art on BBC: The Genius of Leonardo Da Vinci, BBC Four, May 2018Raiders of the Lost Past with Janina Ramirez, BBC Four, September 2019 – 1 The Sutton Hoo Hoard Handmade in Bolton – presenter, featuring Shaun Greenhalgh and narrated by Waldemar Januszczak, BBC Four, October 2019Lost Worlds and Hidden Treasures, 3-part series, Apple TV, May 2021
Publications
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