Italian Syrians

Italian Syrians

Italo-Sirianni (Italian)
Total population
Unknown
Regions with significant populations
Damascus • Aleppo • Latakia
Languages
Italian • Arabic
Religion
Roman Catholic • Jewish
Related ethnic groups
Italians • Italians in Lebanon • Italian Egyptians

Italians in Syria (Italian: Italo-Sirianni) are Syrian-born citizens who are fully or partially of Italian descent, whose ancestors were Italians who emigrated to Syria during the Italian diaspora. This Italian community have a history that goes back to Roman times.

History

Ancient Times

In 64 B.C., when Pompey the Great executed the Seleucid King Antiochus XIII Asiaticus, Syria became a Roman province. Many researchers also claim that Rome itself was overrun by Syrians and Greeks. Many Roman emperors were Syrians, from Elagabalus to Philip the Arab. A noble Syrian family in Rome was the Emesene dynasty, with one of its members being Julia Domna, a noble Syrian Christian woman from Emesa who was the mother of Caracalla and Geta.

17th Century

By the late 17th century, Aleppo's lively trade attracted people from all over the world, including prosperous Jewish merchants from the Italian cities of Livorno and Venice, known as the Francos or Franji. Signor Hillel Haim Picciotto first traveled to Aleppo from Livorno in 1732 and eventually settled there in 1771. The Picciotto family became one of the city's most prominent families, serving as consuls to European countries for over one hundred years and assisting their fellow Jews with their position and wealth. Other well-known and influential Franco families included the Altaras, Silvera, and Ancona clans.

World War II

Many Italians left Italy due to the fascist party and World War II. Many found refuge in Syria. One of them is Alberto Livadiotti, a Syrian refugee who shared the story of his great-grandfather, a refugee in Damascus, Syria, who came from a Christian background in Catania, Sicily. Another notable Syrian-Italian is Graziella Popolani, a rich Damascene woman born in Damascus to a Syrian mother and an Italian refugee.

Syrian-Italian Relations

In the 1900s, during the Sanremo Conference, which took place from the 19th to 26 April 1920 the Allied Supreme Council of War, composed of Italy, France, United Kingdom, United States, and Japan, met to discuss the situation of the Middle East after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and the declaration of independence of the Arab Kingdom of Syria with the Coronation of King Faisal I on 8 March 1920.

Italy and Syria are both Mediterranean countries and they have strategic common interests. For this reason before the Syrian civil war, which began on 15 March 2011, Italy and Syria had relatively intense economic relations.

Before the civil war, from 2004 to 2008, the imports of Italy from Syria amounted to €800 million, each year, whereas the exports from Italy to Syria amounted to €1 billion, each year. After the start of the civil war in 2011, the exchanges decreased and the imports from Syria to Italy amounted to €18 million, whereas exports from Italy to Syria amounted to €33 million.

The goods mainly exported from Italy to Syria were machinery of various kinds, chemical products, and medical products. The imported goods from Syria to Italy, in addition to oil, were leather goods and saddlery, travel items, bags, prepared and dyed furs, and meat. As of 2011 Syrian goods represented only 0.2% of Italy's whole economic exchange. The economic exchanges from Syria to Italy, as of 2019, amounted to €100 million, whereas the latest data, from January 2020 to July 2020, show that the economic exchanges dropped to €36.9 million.

Before the civil war began in 2011, Italy used to sell weapons to Syria, but the Council of the European Union imposed upon member States the embargo to sell weapons in Syria with the decision 2011/273/CFSP, which then was rendered applicable with the Council Regulation (EU) No. 442/2011 of 9 May 2011 concerning restrictive measures given the situation. These European laws forbid Italy to sell weapons directly or indirectly to Syria. Furthermore, it forbids Syria to provide financial support and froze the assets of all individuals deemed responsible for the conflict.

Language & Religion

Not much is known about Syrian Italians and how they follow both customs and cultures. Most Italian-Syrians are either of Roman Catholic background or follow Judaism. Many have also converted to Islam.

Notable People

• Felice Schiavoni
• Giuseppe Nahmad
• Ali Ghaleb Himmat
• Abdul Hadi Palazzi