Dr Michele Mele is a 33-year-old research fellow at the University of Sannio, Benevento in Italy, who has in his relatively short life, achieved an extraordinary number of ambitions despite the barriers placed in his way by society, due to his visual impairment. His research, collaboration with the UN and publication of two fascinating books resulted in him being presented with a knighthood by the Italian president, Sergio Mattarella in March 2024.
Michele Mele’s early life
Michele was born in Salerno, Italy in 1991. Born with macular degeneration, he had little sight from birth and his condition worsened in 2014. Despite Italian society being, in his words, “very ableist”, Michele describes a happy childhood, during which he managed well at school. Importantly, he says his parents never made him feel different because of his disability and have continuously encouraged him to pursue his interests.
Told by his teacher at 16 that his condition meant that he would never understand mathematics, Michele refused to accept this and continued to nurture his passion for the subject. Indeed, he went on to university and in 2014 became the youngest person in Italy with a visual impairment to achieve a master’s degree. In 2019 he obtained his PhD in Mathematics and IT from the University of Naples.
Research and publications
Michele’s PhD thesis was based on an algorithm he designed to optimise assistance services for passengers with special needs at large airports.
In his role as a research fellow at the University of Sannio at Benevento, he works in the fields of combinatorial optimisation and maths education, often dealing with timetabling/scheduling problems or designing methods of teaching mathematics to students with visual impairments.
In the last three years (besides some scientific publications in international journals) Michele has published two books. The first, L’Universo tra le Dita or The Universe Between the Fingers, is the story of the lives of 10 blind or partially sighted scientists in history. This starts with the Yorkshire-born mathematician Nicholas Saunderson (1682–1739). Michele states that, “the lives of these figures are concrete proof of the falsity of the prejudice that discourages people with low or no sight from following a scientific career”.
The second book, Il Richiamo della Strada, or The Call of the Trail, is a biography of John Metcalf, also known as ‘Blind Jack of Knaresborough’, who despite becoming blind at age six, successfully worked in a number of jobs (including working as a guide, a fiddler and even a smuggler!), eventually becoming the first blind road engineer in history. The almost 200 miles of roads he conceived are still part of the UK road network today.
A message of hope and inclusion
Sadly, Michele’s books have not yet been translated into English, something that he is very keen to achieve. These books have been written from the heart, to spread what Michele refers to as a message of hope and inclusion. He is thus seeking a publisher in the UK and would love for anyone who can assist him with this, to get in touch. “I sincerely believe these stories of resilience and triumph against adversity must become known to as many people as possible to erase prejudices and create a better society”, he says. “Getting them published in the world’s first language would be the highest achievement of my educational endeavours.”
Michele has a real passion for the UK, and a fondness for Yorkshire in particular, ever since his initial visit to Sheffield. He has continued to visit England nearly every year since 2009. Asked about his feelings about the UK, Michele says that here he has encountered accessibility and “a deep sense of inclusion and acceptance of differences, something I have not found in the many other countries I have been to. It is not only about infrastructure, tactile paving and accessible layout of towns and cities, but it is a deeply rooted cultural factor -which you Brits seem not to appreciate enough”.
Folk music and football
Amongst his many interests and talents, Michele has a deep love for the folk music of the UK and Ireland and he reviews music for the website, Bright Young Folk. Asked about his favourite bands, he says there are too many to mention them all, but live gigs he has really enjoyed include Ross and Ali, Tarren and Leveret. As the proud owner of a collection of hundreds of folk albums, he would include Michael McGoldrick, Old Blind Dogs, Jack Rutter and The Ciderhouse Rebellion amongst others.
Michele is also a massive fan of English football, both league and non- league and he writes about both for an Italian website, specialising in the latter.
A message to young people with visual impairment
Asked what he would say to young people with visual impairments wishing to pursue a career in maths or science today, Michele responded, “I would say to them not to abandon their dream of a scientific career. Especially in the 21st century, with the example of many blind or partially sighted scientists in history, you can be sure there is a solution to follow your passion despite the inevitable challenges of disability. There will be hard moments, obstacles to overcome with a bit of creativity, patience and stubbornness, but it is not impossible, quite the opposite.”
I asked Michele about the education of young people with visual impairments and which aspect was most important. He responded that the use of assistive technologies and educational methodologies are central but commented that “the human touch and the realisation that each one of us has the right to follow their talents is equally important. These two strictly related aspects are the indivisible principles of equitable education and have the same relevance”.
Asked about the role of artificial intelligence in education, he stated that in his view, as with every real revolution it will take time to understand its full potential but that it may be “an important asset for the development of a more inclusive educational environment, as happened with printing in the Renaissance, Braille in the 19th century and computers in recent times”.
Two goals
And what about his own future ambitions? Michele told me that his main goal is to contribute, both with his research and his international project with the UN, to create a more inclusive world.
“On a more personal note, my lifelong dream is to move to England”, Michele concluded.
Given the evidence of his skills, determination and resilience so far, there can be little doubt that Michele will be successful in these goals.
