​This event focuses on the relationship between the Italian city of Trieste and the Levant. From Fernand Braudel onwards, cultural memories of historical cities on the Mediterranean Sea have raised vibrant cultural, historical and anthropological questions, which are of particular relevance in today’s world, when the Sea has become a site of displacement, migrations and fugitive crossings. The trans-disciplinary and inter-cultural vocation of this gathering, focusing on Ottoman legacies in Trieste and across the Mediterranean, from antiquity to the present, addresses issues of cultural diplomacy, as well as bringing together research pursuits and interests across several Institutes in SAS and University of London, and several other institutions such as the Levantine Heritage Foundation and the Hellenic Society. 

Speakers include the distinguished IHR-trained metropolitan and court historian Philip Mansel, author of several best-sellers, including Levant (2010), who will focus on the Habsburgs and Alexandria; Richard Bassett, formerly The Times’ correspondent in Eastern Europe, a long-time resident of Trieste and a renowned author and commentator on Central European affairs, who will speak about Maria Theresa and Trieste; Michael Cottakis, a historian of the Eastern Mediterranean and former director of the think-tank 89 Initiative, focusing on the great fires at Smyrna and the Narodni Dom in Trieste. The discussion is chaired by Katia Pizzi, of the Institute of Languages, Cultures and Societies, author of several volumes on the literary and cultural history of Trieste.

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