The Galata tower in Costantinople/Istanbul is the main historical symbol of the Italian Levantines
The migration of Latin families from Chios to Costantinople and Smyrna
When the island of Chios was conquered by the Ottomans in 1566, many families moved to Constantinople and Smyrna. A new current of exchanges in trade and relations begin between the Latins from Chios and Genoa and those of Constantinople. From the study of the Chios’ parochial registries, now conserved in the island of Tinos, and a manuscript, dated between 1825 and 1830, of Giovanni Isidoro, Catholic vicarious of Chios, recounting the dispersion of the populace after of the Turkish repression of 1822, we found the names of some of the old Latin families still present in the island: de Portu, Ferando, d’Andria, Castelli, Corpi, Marcopoli, Guglielmi, Giustiniani, Palassurò, Giuducci (Giudici), Reggio, Roustan.
Curiously, until XIXth century, there wasn’t the issue of nationality as regards to the Latins of Chios under Ottoman government, because there wasn’t a particular capitulation signed after the 1566 takeover, as was made in Constantinople after 1453 between Mahomet II and the Genoese colony. We suppose that these Latins conserved the own nationality, as we have evidence that Latins from Chios, when they migrated to Smyrna, still at the beginning of the XIXth century, were considered with a foreign nationality that was often, as in the case of the Giustiniani, was the nationality form their “original” country, in particular they come from Genoa, therefore: Italian.
After the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, some Latin families had found shelter in the Greek islands (Chios, Tinos, Syra, Naxos, Santorini), and when order and calm returned to the city, decided to return to Constantinople. This return migration quickened after 1537, when these islands, one after the other, were conquered by the Turks.
According to the registries of deaths of Saint Maria Draperis R.C. church in Pera, an important parish of Constantinople, from 1800 to 1855, 33.09% of the deceased persons were immigrants from three islands (Tinos 17,48%; Syra 13,43%; Chios 2.18%). We notice that those already established in Constantinople represent only 9.92% of the deaths. The Latins were re-united under a civil and religious body called “Magnificent Community”. This Community, around 1840, was placed under the jurisdiction of the Turkish ministry of the Foreign nations, took the name of “Ottoman Latin chancery” and its activity continued until 1927.
Examining the registries of deaths held at Saint Maria Draperis church, we found in the period from 1800 to 1855, the following names represented Latin families that had emigrated from Chios to Costantinople: Braggiotti, Bragiotti, Carco, Caro, Castelli, Charo, Cochino, Coresi, Coressi, Corpi, Doria, Gaidani, Gallizi, Giro, Giustiniani, Isidoro, Jobini, Jobiori, Justiniani, Magnifico, Marcopoli, Marcopolo, Massoni, Nomico, Petier, Piperi, Renaccio, Tubini, Vegeti, Xenopoulo, Zoratelli.
The foreign Latin Community lived its golden age from 1839, emanating out of the reforms of modernization of the Ottoman Empire, until the abolition of the capitulations with the Peace treaty signed at Lausanne on 24 July 1923. The new Republic of Turkey did not delay in applying a certain number of measures to liberate its commerce from foreign domination and that exercised by the minorities.
The Giustiniani branch in the city of Smyrna, come from of the family Giustiniani-De’ Fornetti (Count Palatino arriving in 1413), decreed a marquis by the Italian Sovereign on 22 February 1893, (recognized as a noble and patrician of Genoa by the Sovereign on 20 June 1891), a family also present at the time in Chios, Genoa, Spain and Sicily.
Finally, to learn in detail about the history of the Levantines, or to be more precise, the Italo-Levantines, we translate the italian essay (https://www.opiniojuris.it/medio-oriente/levantini/#_ftnref11) written by Rinaldo Marmara, Doctor of the University of Montpellier III, official historian of the "Apostolic Vicariate of Istanbul" and author of several books on the subject, in order to reconstruct the fundamental passages and to understand the history of this ancient community.
A family of Italian Levantines in the 1920s
The origins
On May 29, 1453, the Genoese handed over the keys to the city of Constantinople as a sign of submission to Mehmet II (Mehmet II Fātiḥ, “The Conqueror”).
Christian Constantinople became Istanbul, the new capital of the Ottoman Empire. The conversion was followed by a provision ("ferman") that ensured freedom of worship for the Christians of Galata/Pera and the re-establishment of the Orthodox patriarchate.
Despite this provision, many Latins fled the city to take refuge on the nearby island of Chios, which was still under Genoese domination, while those who decided to stay became Ottoman subjects. Therefore, we have the presence of people who cannot be classified according to a specific nationality, but who are defined as “Latins” who were subjects of the Ottoman Empire. The Latins could not be defined as a Millet minority (like the Armenians, the Greeks or the Jews) but were considered “Taifé” (class, human group).
Many of the Latins who had fled with the capture of Constantinople, then decided to return to the city over time, but according to the laws of the time they could not have stayed more than a year. Those who extended their stay for a period longer than a year, lost the legal status of foreigner and could not therefore leave the country, becoming in all respects an Ottoman subject.
Mehmet II, for issues related to the development of commercial activities that were mainly managed by the Latins, decided to extend the period from 1 to 10 years with the capitulations of 1535. It is important to explain how important the capitulations were in this area. In those of 1569 there is no longer any mention of the period of permanence in the Empire that should not be exceeded.
The capitulations in the Ottoman Empire were contracts concluded between the Empire and various European powers. The capitulations were binding legal acts by which the Ottoman Sultans granted rights and privileges to the Christian States in favor of the subjects of the latter, present in various capacities on Ottoman territory, as a sort of extension of the rights and privileges that those same European Powers had enjoyed at the time of the Byzantine Empire. In the years following the capture of Constantinople, first Genoa (1453), then Venice (1454) and then later Florence and Ancona, stipulated this type of agreement that favored the development of commercial activities.
The return of the Latins had generated a particular situation. Members of the same family could find themselves with different legal statuses. Those who had decided not to abandon the city after the capture of 1453 were considered subjects of the Ottoman Empire, while those who had escaped and then returned were considered foreigners and thanks to the capitulations enjoyed full rights and privileges. This group of returned foreigners can be called "Levantines".
The word Levantines, meaning “from the Levant”, was initially used by the Venetians, who with a negative connotation indicated those who settled in the East for trade, far from the motherland, and who often managed to gain economic benefits quickly thanks also to the advantages derived from the capitulations.
With the expression Levantines we therefore indicate a group of foreigners who lived in the Ottoman Empire, but to which group do we want to attribute this label? To the Italians, of course, because they were the huge majority in Costantinople/Istanbul.
In bizantine Costantinople there were the Genoese, Venetian, Amalfitan and Pisan "Quarters". They were located just in front of Pera, as can read in the map
The apogee
The reform policies carried out by Sultans Mahmud II (1808-1839), Abdülmecid I (1839-1861) and Abdülaziz (1861-1876) and which go under the name of Tanzȋmât, had as their objective modernizing the Empire, countering the independence aims of the different ethnic groups that composed it, and halting the slow international decline of what would become the "Great Sick Man of Europe".
Sultan Abdülmecid I with the promulgation of the Hatt-ı Hümâyun of Gǘlhâne on November 3, 1839, inaugurated the Tanzȋmât by proclaiming the equality of all subjects of the Ottoman Empire without distinction of religion and nationality. The reforms ensured, among other things, “The guarantee of respect for their lives and their property” and “A regular way to determine the payment of taxes”. The privileges granted to non-Muslim subjects were confirmed and expanded with the imperial rescript of 1856. It is important to underline these steps because, thanks to these reforms and the favorable climate that had been established, a significant number of foreigners arrived in the Ottoman Empire in search of work and better living conditions. Thus, from the mid-19th to the beginning of the 20th century, we witness the apogee of the Latin Community of Constantinople.
Although it is difficult to establish precisely how many there were, we know that Italian citizens were the largest group of the Levantine community, which numbered around 30,000 out of a total of approximately 900,000 inhabitants of the city.
From the study carried out in various archives, it is possible to establish that families from Italy, including the Timoni, Testa, Chirico, Franchini and Giustiniani, Giudici just to name a few, settled permanently in Constantinople in that period. This group, which over time became a true caste, also by virtue of the transmission from father to son of the office of "dragoman" in the various European and Ottoman embassies or legations, was commonly defined as the “Magnificent community of Pera”, from the name of the neighborhood they inhabited. The success of the Italian element and the Italian language at a diplomatic level in the lands of the Sultan was due to the members of this community.
The Italian community present in Constantinople during its heyday could be divided into three groups. The first was made up of Italians already present in Constantinople, those who came from the greek archipelago and the Jews who had escaped from Spain. The second group, the majority, was made up of new arrivals in the city. The third group was made up of workers looking for work in the large construction sites where foreign labor was sought after.
At the beginning of the 19th century, there were about fifty Italian industrial companies present in Ottoman territory: among these we remember the Ansaldo House, which had built two torpedo boats in addition to repairing and transforming the Ottoman fleet; the Dapei foundries present since 1835, the Camondo brick factory since 1874, as well as distilleries, pasta factories, tailors. There were also eighty commercial houses in Constantinople alone: insurers, bankers, publishers, opticians, the presence and influence of Italians in the Ottoman Empire in the economic and cultural sphere was extremely important, just look at the number of religious institutions such as churches, convents, and then schools, hospitals, orphanages born after the 1867 law that authorized the right to property.
The life of the community of Italian origin took place, in the XIX century and early XX century, around some associations. In 1838 the "Associazione Commerciale Artigiana di Pietà" was born, founded to relieve poor artisans. In 1863 there was the First Branch of the Universal Israelite Alliance and the Respectable Italian Lodge in the East of Constantinople founded under the auspices of the Grand Orient of Turin, and also supported by the ambassador of the Kingdom of Italy. The "Dante Alighieri Society" inaugurated in 1895 which since then has been a center of social and cultural aggregation operating through initiatives such as the establishment of schools, the library, the organization of public conferences and the promotion of the Italian language (please read in italian language: https://journals.openedition.org/diacronie/1785).
The "Società Operaia Italiana" di Mutuo Soccorso was founded in 1863, two years after the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, seven years before Rome was united with the rest of the peninsula. The Società Operaia Italiana was an association in which, alongside ideals and nostalgia, practical actions aimed at mutual support were carried out. Each member was required to make monthly donations to a fund intended to support the less wealthy members. Among the papers kept in the archives of “Casa Garibaldi” as it was renamed, the correspondence between the two Presidents is preserved: Giuseppe Garibaldi the effective one and Giuseppe Mazzini the honorary one.
Among the most important Italian figures who lived in Constantinople we cannot fail to mention Giuseppe Donizetti, author of the first Ottoman national anthem which in honor of Sultan Mahmud was entitled Marcia Mahmudiye, or that of the painter Fausto Zonaro author of works such as The Ertuğrul Regiment on the Galata Bridge, and later appointed court painter, or Raimondo D’Aronco one of the major architects exponent of the Art Nouveau world, or the portrait painter Leonardo Di Mango, whose remains are preserved in a state of abandonment in the Latin cemetery of Feriköy.
The Italian colony, also present in other cities such as Smyrna, developed and lived in Constantinople between the districts of Pera (or Galata), today Beyoğlu, an elegant neighborhood rebuilt after the fire of 1870 where neoclassical and Art Nouveau buildings alternate, and of Pangalti.
The origin of the name of the latter according to some sources comes from "hot breads" due to the presence of several bakeries in the area, but most likely the name comes from an Italian, Pancaldi, who moved from Bologna to Constantinople and in that area opened a café that soon became a meeting point for many Italians.
This cosmopolitan, fluid and creative panorama, however, came to an abrupt end in the first decade of the twentieth century. In fact, the intensified nationalistic pressures on both the Italian and Ottoman-Turkish sides, progressively distanced the two communities and led them to a definitive break during the Libyan war of 1911-12. Previously, during the Dodecanese War, the Italians in Constantinople did not suffer any consequences, the Council of Ministers in fact recommended the Governors of cities and provinces to ensure maximum protection, but with the war in Libya, the Sultan and especially the government of the CUP (“Committee of Union and Progress”) responded to the Italian invasion of Tripolitania by expelling all Italians from the Empire and in particular from Constantinople.
1912 postcard showing some Italo-levantines, refugees from Istanbul, just arrived in Ancona
The Ottoman government decreed the expulsion of all Italian citizens residing in Turkey, with the exception of railway construction workers, clergymen and widows. These measures affected 7,000 Italo-Levantines from Smyrna and more than 12,000 from Constantinople. To avoid repatriation, many opted for Ottoman citizenship. The expelled, who were the majority, were repatriated in the following days to the ports of Ancona, Naples and Bari.
This event marked the beginning of the end of the Italian community in Constantinople. Although many returned after the end of the conflict, the community never recovered to the level of its past splendor. However, in Istanbul, during the twenty years of Mussolini's rule, the "Circolo Roma" and the "Casa d'Italia" were born, as meeting centers for local Italians.
The decline
What are the causes of this decline?
Today (2015) the community has about 5/6000 Italians but the number of true Levantines is about 1500/2000 units.
Rinaldo Marmara (R. Marmara, "Lessico Etimologico delle parole greche mutuate dall’italiano – Gli italiani di Costantinopoli" – Istituto italiano di cultura. Istanbul, 2008) explains that "Being Levantine was a spirit, a culture, even if legally opposed it was a single family, with the same habits and the same way of thinking, of speaking. The true Levantine must be able to speak Greek, as it was the vehicular language of the Europeans settled in the lands of the East, but also French, Italian and Turkish. The evolution of linguistic relations between the Levantines is curious. To fill the gaps in their knowledge of Greek, the Italians Hellenized their words thus enriching the koinè, or the common Greek language".
Things began to change with the birth of the Turkish Republic, both from the point of view of guaranteeing privileges for foreigners, and from a religious point of view.
The Ottoman Empire guaranteed a sort of freedom of worship perhaps greater than that of already secular countries such as France, so it was common to witness processions and public religious functions in the streets of Constantinople. On 29 October 1923 the Grand National Assembly, through the approval of some amendments to the organic law of 1921, proclaimed the establishment of the Turkish Republic and elected Kemal Ataturk as its President. The latter, even before being the father of "Türkiye Cumhuriyeti" on a political level, is to be considered its architect from an ideological point of view. Kemal promoted an essential core of values aimed at remodelling contemporary Turkish society, transforming it into an emancipated and progressive nation. In this perspective of modernization of the country in a Western sense, the ideological system forged by the Kemalist elite rested on six well-known pillars, renamed 'arrows of Kemalism': republicanism, nationalism, populism, secularism, statism and reformism. The process of Turkish secularism takes the name of 'laiklik':it referred in abstract to the rigid separation between State and Churches typical of the model of 'assertive' or 'militant' secularism of French origin.
The decline that began with the birth of the Republic transformed into a rupture with the "Istanbul riots" of 6-7 September 1955, against the backdrop of the conflicts between Turkey and Greece that had continued since the end of the First World War. The pretext was the false news of the fire set on the birthplace of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and the seat of the Turkish Consulate in Thessaloniki, Greece, reported in an afternoon edition of the local newspaper Istanbul Express, printed for the occasion in more than 200 thousand copies, which amplified the lie and gave rise to the violence that began to invade Istanbul starting at 5 pm a Pogrom, a premeditated devastation tolerated by the authorities, mainly against the Greek community, but also against the Armenian and Jewish ones.
The violence led to the death of 16 people (13 Greeks, 2 Orthodox priests and one Armenian), there were rapes and forced circumcisions, damage to more than 5,000 commercial activities. The sad images of the devastation of those days were immortalized by a young Ara Guler, the famous Turkish-Armenian photographer, considered one of the fathers of twentieth-century photography. Insecurity and fear pushed thousands of individuals belonging to minorities from Turkey, including many Levantines and Romanians, to abandon the country forever.
Another “social” factor in the decline of the Levantines, in addition to the demographic one, was (according to Rinaldo) the opening towards Turkish society with mixed marriages. “With mixed marriages, that “way of thinking” typical of minorities has disappeared, capable of formulating the same answers to questions that came from outside, which perhaps did not correspond to the truth but was a defense system based on the cohesion of the community".
Notable people
Famous people of the present-day Italian levantine community in Istanbul include:
Sir Alfredo Biliotti, who joined the British foreign service and eventually rose to become one of its most distinguished consular officers in the late 19th century. Biliotti was also an accomplished archaeologist who conducted important excavations at sites in the Aegean and Anatolia.
Sir Alfredo BiliottiLivio Missir di Lusignano. Historian (his masterpiece is Les anciennes familles italiennes de Turquie).
Giuseppe Donizetti, musicist. He was Instructor General of the Imperial Ottoman Music at Sultan Mahmud II's court
