Dr Mariano Errichiello

Mariano Errichiello is a scholar of Zoroastrianism specialising in modern communities. His research combines textual analysis with ethnographic insight, with particular interest in mobility, migration, hermeneutics and ritual performance. He adopts a community-engaged approach, integrating lived perspectives and community knowledge into both pedagogy and research design.  

His forthcoming monograph "The Teachings of the Master-Hearts: Zoroastrian Esotericism and Hermeneutical Polyphony in Modern India (Oxford University Press)" examines esoteric interpretive strategies among Parsis, presenting Zoroastrianism not as a monolithic tradition but as a dynamic field of debate and existential inquiry. 

Mariano has been awarded fellowships at leading research institutes in Venice, Copenhagen and Erlangen-Nürnberg, and his work has received recognition from the Ancient India & Iran Trust, the Association for the Study of Persianate Societies and the Journal of Persianate Studies. He also serves as a Trustee and member of the Governing Council of the British Institute of Persian Studies.  

Before entering academia, Mariano held senior leadership roles at PwC, leading the firm’s market and business development efforts in Latin America, the UK and globally.

Interdisciplinarity is central to Mariano’s work. Drawing on anthropology, sociology, history and methods from the digital humanities, he explores how the Zoroastrian religion is interpreted, lived and reshaped across diverse settings. His research is grounded in community engagement, involving Zoroastrian individuals as co-producers of knowledge. 

Mariano’s early research focused on modern esotericism, funerary practices, ritual aesthetics and priestly authority among Parsis in India. His current projects examine Zoroastrian communities as a global network, with particular attention to those who act as ontological brokers between religious interpretations, geographies and generations. 

• Academia profile