Nissinen, Martti

Martti Heikki Nissinen (born April 22, 1959 in Kuopio) is a Finnish theologian, serving since 2007 as Professor of Old Testament studies in the Faculty of Theology at the University of Helsinki. He is known as an expert of the prophetic phenomenon in the Hebrew Bible and the ancient Near East, but his research interests include also gender issues (love poetry, homoeroticism, masculinity) in the ancient Eastern Mediterranean. He has written and edited several books and a significant number of articles on topics related to prophecy, gender, and history of ancient Near Eastern religion. Nissinen received his Th.D. from the University of Helsinki in 1992, after which he held several research and teaching positions at this institution, such as Assistant Professor of Old Testament Studies (1985–1994) and as an Academy Research Fellow of the Academy of Finland (1994–2002). From 2002 to 2007, he served as Professor of Bible and the Ancient Near East. He was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J. in 2008–2009 and in 2016 and a visitor in 2011. In 2014–2019, Nissinen was the director of the Academy of Finland Centre of Excellence in Changes in Sacred Texts and Traditions (CSTT), an interdisciplinary research centre that focuses on a more comprehensive understanding of the emergence and influence of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament within the multicultural milieu of the ancient Near East.