David Abulafia, (born 12 December 1949) is an English historian with a particular interest in Italy, Spain and the rest of the Mediterranean during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. He spent most of his career at the University of Cambridge, initially as a Lecturer, and was finally promoted internally from Reader to the position of Professor, at the age of 51, in the year 2000 internal senior academic promotion exercise. He retired in 2018 and is currently titled Professor Emeritus of Mediterranean History. He is a Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge since 1974; he later became the Papathomas Professorial Fellow. He was Chairman of the History Faculty at Cambridge University, 2003-5, and was elected a member of the governing Council of Cambridge University in 2008.
He is a Fellow of the British Academy and a member of the Academia Europaea. In 2013 he was awarded one of three inaugural British Academy Medals for his work on Mediterranean history.
