Italians of Crimea

The Italians of Crimea are a small ethnic minority residing in Crimea.

Ancestors of the Italians populated some areas of Ukraine and Crimea since the time of the Roman Empire, Republic of Genoa and the Republic of Venice. Some sources affirm that in Odessa, at the end of the 18th century, one inhabitant in ten was Italian.

In 1830 and 1870 two distinct migrations arrived in Kerch from the cities of Trani, Bisceglie e Molfetta. These migrants were peasants and sailors, attracted by the job opportunities in the local Crimean seaports and by the possibility to cultivate the almost virgin and fertile Crimean lands. Italian general and patriot Giuseppe Garibaldi worked as a sailor at least twice in the region of Odessa, between 1825 and 1833.

In Kerch they built a catholic church, still locally known as the Church of the Italians. From Kerch the Italians moved to Feodosiya (the former Genoese colony of Caffa), Simferopol, Mariupol and to other Russian seaports of Crimea, such as Batumi and Novorossiysk.

In the beginning of the 20th century the Italian community was numerous enough to have a primary school and a library. The local newspaper Kerčenskij Rabocij at that time used to publish articles in Italian. According to the information contained in the Ukrainian statistics archives, the Italians resident in Kerch accounted in 1897 to 1,8% of the population and in 1921 to 2% for a total of 3,000 people.

After the Russian Revolution, many Italians were considered fascists and forced to move to Italy.

Between 1920 and 1930 many antifascist Italians seeking asylum in Soviet Union were sent from Moscow to Kerch to organise the local Italian community. According to the plans of Soviet collective farming, the Italians were forced to create a kolkhoz called Sacco e Vanzetti. Those refusing to comply were forced to leave or were deported. According to 1933 census the number of Italians in the region of Kerch had already dropped by 1,3%.

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