Stefano Bruni was born in Florence where he studied and graduated in Classics in 1984 under the guidance of Enrico Paribeni and Giovannangelo Camporeale. In 1986 he was awarded a scholarship of the Dr. M. Aylwin Cotton Foundation (Guernsey, Channel Islands); in 1991 he gained the title of PhD (= Dottore di ricerca) in Archaeology. From 1991 to November 2000, he worked in the position of arcChannel Islandstry for Cultural Activities by Soprintendenza ai Beni Archeologici della Toscana. Starting from November 2000 he has been Associate Professor of Etruscology and Italian Antiquities at the University of Ferrara. In 2014 he obtained the qualification as a full professor in the competitive sector 10 A1, renewed in 2025. From the academic year 2001/2002 to the academic year 2012/2013 he was a member of the teaching staff of the Etruscology course at the University for Foreigners of Perugia. In the academic year 2016/2017 and 2019/2020, 2020/2021 he was Visiting Professor at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa. From 2008 to 2018, he was a member of the Teaching Board of the PhD program in "Sciences and Technologies for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage" [DOT 0609505] at the University of Ferrara; since 2019, he has been a member of the Teaching Board of the PhD program in "Archaeology" – Etruscology and Italic Antiquities Section [DOT 13262TM] at the University of Rome "La Sapienza".
From 1995 he is member of Istituto Nazionale di Studi Etruschi e Italici, in the first time as correspondent and from December 2012 as national one.; from 2018 he is Segretario Generale. From 2001 he is correspondent member of the German Archaeological Institut . Besides he is member of the Accademia Etrusca di Cortona, of the Accademia dei Sepolti di Volterra and of the Società Storica Pisana. From 2015 he is member of dell'Accademia Toscana di Scienze e Lettere “La Colombaria” di Firenze; from 2025 he is President of Class of History and Philosophy. From 2015 he is Socio corrispondente of Pontificia Accademia Romana di Archeologia. In 2000 he was awarded the international prize Ultimo Novecento, conferred by the Province of Pisa. In 2009, he was awarded honorary citizenship by the Municipality of Casciana Terme (Pisa) "for his assiduous involvement with us and our roots, for his scientific merits as an archaeologist and historian, and for the honor he gives us Cascianesi to consider himself and be our fellow citizens. The City Council unanimously voted on April 4, 2009."
He is editor of the journal Science and tecnology for cultural heritage; he founded and currently he is editor, with Mario Rosa, of the journal Symbolae antiquariae. From 2023 he is editor, with M.Osanna and L. Fiorini, of the journal Ostraka. Member of the scientific committee of the journals “Studi Etruschi”, “Adrias”, ”Rassegna di Archeologia”, He is Series Director of “Mousai. Laboratorio di archeologia e storia delle arti”, printed by the Casa Editrice ETS, Pisa.
He parteecipated in nomerous archaeological excavations in ancient Etruria (Tarquinia, Massa Marittima, Chiusi, Populonia, Orvieto) and in Magna Graecia (Heraclea near Policoro in Basilcata). From 1991 to 2002 he supervised archaeological excavations and researches in the urban center of Pisa and its territory. From 2001 to 2011, he directed the excavation of the Etruscan sanctuary complex of Ortaglia in Le Serre, Peccioli (Pisa), under concession from the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities to the Municipality of Peccioli. Since 2003, he has directed the excavation of the multi-layered settlement in Parlascio, Casciana Terme (Pisa), under concession from the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities to the Municipality of Casciana Terme.
In 2004 he was archaeological member of the study committee for the special autonomy Project of Tuscany in the field Beni Culturali. He was member of the scientific committee of the exhibitions Pisa and the Mediterranean, which was held in 2003 and was promoted by Province of Pisa, town council of Pisa and Ministry for cultural activities. In 2002, the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities appointed him a member of the Scientific Committee for the "Museo delle Navi di Pisa" project. In 2004–2005, he served on the Scientific Committee of the Fiesole Musei Special Agency (see provision no. 1 dated February 10, 2004, file no. 2772 of the Municipality of Fiesole). In 2005–2008, he coordinated the international group for the drafting of the "agriculture" entry in the supplementary volume of the Thesaurus Cultus et Rituum Antiquorum (ThesCRA). In 2006, he served on the executive committee for the creation of the Archaeological Museum of Peccioli (Pisa), designing its layout, visitor route, and exhibition design. From 2007 to 2009, he chaired the scientific committee for the exhibition "At the Origins of Livorno. Etruscans and Romans," promoted by the Municipal Administration of Livorno and the Cassa di Risparmi di Livorno Foundation. He also curated the related exhibition, held in Livorno at the Villa Mimbelli Museum from February to May 2009, and the accompanying catalog. In 2008, he was appointed to the Scientific Committee of the project "Gabriele Cateni. An Etruscologist for Volterra," promoted by the Province of Pisa, the Municipality of Volterra, the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Volterra, and the Association of Friends of Volterra's Museums and Monuments. The committee's work concluded at the end of September 2012. In 2012, he was appointed to the Scientific Committee for the planning of the "Bottini dell'Olio - Luogo Pio" Cultural Center, a City Museum promoted by the Municipal Administration of Livorno. Within the committee, he was entrusted with the design of the "Archaeological Section." From 2013 until 2018, he was a member of the International Committee for the 2017/2018 Winckelmann Anniversary Celebrations at the Winckelmann Society in Stendal, Germany. In 2015, he was appointed a member of the scientific committee for the project "The Father of Archaeology in Tuscany" within the international committee for the celebrations of the third centenary of the birth of J.J. Winckelmann. He also curated, together with G. Camporeale, the exhibition "Winckelmann Florence and the Etruscans," held at the National Archaeological Museum of Florence from May 26, 2016, to January 31, 2017. He also edited the related catalog, together with B. Arbeid and M. Iozzo. In 2015, he was appointed by the Mayor of Rio Marina (Livorno) as a member of the Scientific Committee of the Elba Island Mineral Park. In 2018, he was appointed to the Scientific Committee of the Winckelmann Laboratory of the Department of Education, Languages, Intercultural Studies, Literatures, and Psychology at the University of Florence, in partnership with the Tuscan Academy of Sciences and Letters "La Colombaria," the Etruscan Academy of Cortona, the Accademia della Crusca, the Italian Institute of Germanic Studies, and the Winckelmann Society of Stendal. In 2018, he was appointed as a delegate of the Department of Humanities to the operational management group of the Program Agreement for the archaeology of the Comacchio-Ostellato territories (territory of the Etruscan town of Spina). In 2019, he was a member of the Committee promoting the centenary celebrations of the discovery of Spina, representing the University of Ferrara, and served on the Scientific and Technical-Organizational Committee for the exhibition "Etruscan Spina. A Great Port in the Mediterranean," held in Ferrara, at the National Archaeological Museum, from December 22, 2022, to August 31, 2023, and then in Rome, at the National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia, from November 10, 2023, to April 7, 2024. In 2023, he was appointed a member of the Municipal Archaeological Commission of the Municipality of Chiusi (Siena).
He is author of 350 scientific contributions, including monographs, articles and reviews, mainly concerned with the problems of the Etruscan and Italic world, published in the main Italian and international journals, among which, among others, the volumes I lastroni a scala (Materiali del Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Tarquinia, IX, Giorgio Bretschneider, Roma, 1986), Pisa etrusca. Anatomia di una città scomparsa (Longanesi, Milano, 1998), Gravisca. Scavi nel santuario greco II. Le ceramiche corinzie ed etrusco-corinzie (EdiPuglia, Bari, 2009), Gli Etruschi e gli scavi in Toscana nel Risorgimento. I lavori della Società Colombaria tra il 1858 e il 1866 (Silvana Editoriale, Cinisello Balsamo, 2011); he edited, among others, the volumes Il porto urbano di Pisa antica, 1. Il contesto e il relitto ellenistico (Silvana Editoriale, Cinisello Balsamo, vol. I, 2003; vol. II, 2006); Gli Etruschi delle città. Fonti, ricerche e scavi (Silvana Editoriale, Cinisello Balsamo, 2010); Activités relatives au travail, à la chasse, au voyage. a) Agricoltura nel mondo etrusco, in Thesaurus Cultus et Rituum Antiquorum (ThesCRA), vol. VI, Los Angeles, 2011, pp. 324 – 330; Gli Etruschi e la cultura italiana dal Re Buono alla presidenza Einaudi, [Mousai 46], Pisa, Edizioni ETS, 2024 (ma 2025).. An important sector of his scientific activity is the one devoted to the history of studies and antiquarianism, approached from a mainly historical perspective, among these we remember Anton Francesco Gori, Gaetano Albizzini, Francesco Vettori e l'officina del Museum Etruscum, in Symbolae Antiquariae 7, 2014; Winckelmann Firenze e gli Etruschi, catalogo della mostra a cura di B. Arbeid – S. Bruni – M. Iozzo, Firenze, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, 26 maggio 2016 – 30 gennaio 2017, e. ETS, Pisa, 2016, La Firenze di Winckelmann, [Mousai 9], Pisa, Edizioni ETS, 2018; Bindo Simone Peruzzi. La Colombaria e la Firenze della Reggenza, Atti della Giornata di studi, Firenze, Accademia Toscana di Scienze e Lettere “La Colombaria” 18 maggio 2018, [I Quaderni della Colombaria 5], Polistampa, Firenze, 2020