Ritual , Secrecy , and Civil Society - Volume 1 - Issue 2 - Winter 2013-2014
" Livella " Conquers the Mediterranean Region : History of Italian Freemasonry in Egypt
Emanuela Locci 1
The Italian Community
It is proved that Italian people coming
from maritime cities such as Naples ,
Amalfi , Genoa , Pisa and Ancona settled in Egypt ever since the Middle Ages . It was not a proper community because their presence was seasonal until the moment when Mehmet Alì 2 came to the throne . His modernizing policy caused an increase in the Italian presence and the Italian colony became more structured . After 1820 the Egyptian government limited Italian emigration . In fact , Egypt did not need foreign labour because Egyptian people were able to work efficiently .
This period saw the development of the Carbonari movement in Italy ( 1820-21 ). By the end of 1821 Egypt registered another emigration peak . This time most of the immigrants were soldiers , at the service of Egyptian army , looking forward to coming back home and carrying on the fight against Austrians .
The same thing happened during the revolutionary movements of 1830-31 . The emigrants for political reasons faced a difficult situation during the first Italian War of Independence ( 1848-49 ). Some of them went to Egypt , where they found a different economic and social context compared to thirty years earlier . 3
This large community lived in the main cities , such as Alexandria , Cairo and Port Said . Between 1897 and 1907 migration increased significantly , while in the following ten years it experienced a decrease because of the drafting of young people who took part in the First World War . 4
The invasion of the country by British troops , in 1882 , and the following English political supremacy did not limit the Italian presence in Egypt . By that time , Egypt was the natural solution for Italian migration , after Tunisia , which had always been the first Mediterranean destination for Italian migrants . 5
After the end of the Second World War , there was another migratory move-
1
Faculty of Political Science , University of Cagliari . Ph . D . in History , Institutions and International Relationship of Asia and Africa in Modern and Contemporary History , with a doctorate thesis entitled : " The
story of Hiram . Freemasonry from Europe to the Ottoman Empire ."
2
Mehmet Ali Pașa ( Kavala , 1769 – Alexandria , 1849 ) was an Albanian politician and military leader . He is considered the founding father of modern Egypt , because he contributed to the overthrow of Mamluk Rule . He was the first Viceroy of Egypt ( khedivè ) although this qualification was given by the Ottoman Sultan to his nephew Ismā ' īl Pasha only in 1867 . He ruled from 1805 to 1848 . His dynasty governed the country until
1952 with the last King of Egypt , Fuad II .
3
Under Mehmet Alì Europeans could easily find a job , but when the economic circumstance changed , the government limited this possibility , because of the large wave of emigrants for political reasons that were going to the territory .
4
See Paolo Branca , ( by ), Tradizione e modernizzazione in Egitto 1798-1998 , ( Milano , Franco Angeli , 2007 ) p . 83 .
5
See Angelo Iacovella , La presenza italiana in Egitto : problemi storici e demografici , AltreItalie 12 , ( 1994 ), p . 65 .
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