Italians in Egypt
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 3,374 (2007) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Alexandria, Cairo, Suez, Port Said | |
| Languages | |
| Italian, Arabic, French | |
| Religion | |
| Roman Catholic | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Maltese in Egypt, Greeks in Egypt |
Italians in Egypt, also referred to as Italian Egyptians, are a community with a history that goes back to Roman times. Perhaps the most famous Italian Egyptian is Yolanda Christina Gigliotti known as Dalida. Diva, famous singer and actress.
The last Queen of ancient Egypt (Cleopatra) married the Roman Mark Antony bringing her country as "dowry", and since then Egypt was part of the Roman Empire for seven centuries. Many people from the Italian peninsula moved to live in Egypt during those centuries: the tombs of Christian Alexandria shows how deep was that presence.
Since then there has been a continuous presence of people (born in the Italian peninsula) and their descendants in Egypt.
During the Middle Ages Italian communities from the "Maritime Republics" of Italy (mainly Pisa, Genova and Amalfi) were present in Egypt as merchants. Since the Renaissance the Republic of Venice has always been present in the history and commerce of Egypt: there was even a Venetian Quarter in Cairo.
From the time of Napoleon I, the Italian community in Alexandria and Egypt started to grow in a huge way: the size of the community had reached around 55,000 just before World War II, forming the second largest expatriate community in Egypt.
The expansion of the colonial Italian Empire after World War I was directed toward Egypt by Benito Mussolini, in order to control the Suez Canal.
The Italian "Duce" created in the 1930s some sections of the National Fascist Party in Alexandria and Cairo, and many hundreds of Italian Egyptians become members of it. Even some intellectuals, like Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (founder of the Futurism) and the poet Giuseppe Ungaretti, were supporters of the Italian nationalism in their native Alexandria.
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Wikipedia