European Communities in Alexandria

(1939 – 1805)

Some Europeans writers, such as E. Leprette in his book Egypt – Land of the Nile, would like to go so far as  to describe the city of Alexandria, with its long history, as a Greek or a Christian city or even a neglected forgotten city. Although this view is far from the truth, yet there is a very faint shade of reality behind such thoughts.

Alexandria’s importance, like many Mediterranean ports, faded after the transfer of the sea route to the east through South Africa, followed by the arrival of the Ottomans to Egypt. This state continued  until the arrival of the French Expedition followed by the rule of Mohamed Ali who revived the city once more. Linant the French Engineer of El Kanater El Kheireya, reports that Alexandria was in 1810 a purely Arabic city, where you seldom saw any European business men . Consuls were the only foreigners in the city. However, thanks to Mohamed Ali’s projects the population increased in the year 1848 from a few thousands to about 143000 .  This increase also applied to foreigners  as well, they formed their own communities in the city and participated in its development.

The digging up of the Alexandria Canal (El Mahmoudeya) helped change the city’s distinctive features as regards its population and architectural development. Mohamed Ali assigned this project to the French Engineer Coste who completed the project in 1820, from then on all trade activities concentrated in Alexandria and Mohamed Ali made it the headquarters of the Ministry of Trade.

In the city, projects followed successively  , Mohamed Ali assigned Cerisy to provide the city with  a new shipyard . Cerisy appointed a group of European manufacturers from France, Italy and Malta to teach Egyptians the various aspects of the industry. The shipyard was built in 1830. Ships built in it used to house grand parties in celebration of their inauguration, similar to the parties held by European governments in their coastal cities, when celebrating the building of their large battleships. Mohamed Ali and Alexandrians together with their families attend most of these parties. 

The fact that Mohamed Ali allowed European ships to enter the western port of the city increased  and widened the range of trade activities .  Europeans gave the city certain distinctive qualities especially since most of them lived in luxury.  For instance Europeans had the greater share in the education movement in Egypt at the time despite the obstacles they faced due to differences in thoughts, approach and traditions between Moslems and Christians. However, European presence in the city was accepted by its people and was welcomed when its advantages became obvious to them. We find, for example, that the women of Alexandria, as Browning the British nomad and politician   writes, accepted the help of foreign doctors when treated in the Marine Hospital of the city.

Foreigners  had an important impact on  the city’s   architectural expansions since at the beginning of the 19^th century the city was confined almost to two districts Gomrok and Manshia . But by the middle of the century the city expanded in two directions; towards the north it included Ras El Teen and Anfoushi, and towards the southeast it included the commercial heart of the city until El Horreya Avenue. Most of the buildings there belonged to foreigners according to Dr Sobhi Abdel Hakim in his book The City of Alexandria.

Europeans helped Mohamed Ali in his efforts to organize the city. He began by establishing the Alexandria Royal Administration 1807 – 1808, which was the foundation of what later became the Alexandria Governorate. Then he formed the Health Council in 1834  whose members were mostly Europeans. He allowed the consuls of European countries to organize and manage the council’s work while the government paid its expenses, this council brought about some improvements that resulted in the development of the old city,  the transfer of the cemeteries to the outside of the city walls, and the planning of El Manshia Square. The British Consul  usually the chaired  that council.

However, not everything that was introduced by the Europeans was cause for admiration and appreciation. Some of those Europeans were treasure hunters or fugitives, and in the education sector very few of them were qualified to teach and supervise teaching abroad. Bowring in his report goes on with the sad reality by stating that Egyptian antiquities were subjected to unprecedented vandalism at the hands of those Europeans.

During Abbas I reign (1848 – 1854) Europeans had no role worth mentioning in the city as he based his policy on undermining European power. However, his dispute with the Sultan made him befriend the British. We owe the building of the railway  line between  Alexandria and Kafr El Zayat in the year 1854 to the British engineer Stephenson  .

Alexandria gained special attention from Said Pasha (1854 – 1863). He provided support and funding for  schools founded by European communities and non-Moslem religious factions. During his reign the “Tribunaux de Commerce” were recognized (1861).   Henry Lamba states in his book De L’evollution de la Condition Jurisdique des Europeans en Egypt,  that mixed courts were established as a development of commercial law.

          During Ismail’s reign (1863 – 1879) Alexandria regained its maritime and economic activities and witnessed great social progress. The Europeans played a distinguished role in those changes, their numbers increased and their interests diversified. That change was evident in architecture, clothing, organization of public squares, planning of gardens, public parks, fountains, statues and the building of theatres for the performance of musical concerts and plays. Newspapers were established and scientific studies concerning the city were carried out.

De Vanjany, Principal of El Alson School in Cairo, mentions in his book Alexandrie (Paris 1885) ,”the European atmosphere infiltrated into the heart of the city making it lose its Arabian features. Merchants started deserting their traditional places inside their districts to the more crowded streets displaying their merchandise in European style eye-catching cases . They moved closer to Manshia Square were the city commissioned a magnificent statue made of bronze of Mohamed Ali riding his horse (1873) made by the French artist Jaquemont.

In short during Ismail’s reign Alexandria became a modern city and its population doubled (200000) with 43000 foreigners in 1878. The Raml suburb emerged as Ismail used to donate money and land to foreigners to build magnificent mansions, parks and gardens. One such foreigner was Count Zizinia whose name remains to this day in one of the Raml areas.

Ismail’s European inclination and his wish for Egypt to become part of Europe led to the Europeans interference in the affairs of the country whether governments or individuals. They participated in the Egyptian government and gained power and influence. The police force used 50 European men, and most of them were Swiss.

During Tawfiq’s reign 1879 – 1893 the country witnessed the British Occupation (1882). The events accompanying that catastrophe emphasized the gap between the privileged Europeans in the city and the Egyptians. Following the settlement of the British in the city they established the Alexandria City Council in 1890 to manage the city’s affairs. It was made up of Egyptians as well as foreigners, and planned new extensions of the city. The number of foreigners increased to 46000 i.e. 14.5% of the total number of people in the city. The Greeks were the largest foreign community followed by Italians, British, French and Austrians.

Foreigners continued to increase in number in the first quarter of the 20^th century, then their percentage began to decrease gradually due to the increase in the Egyptian population as a result of improved living circumstances and health care. Foreigners settled in the sea front areas of the city from Manshia in the west to Bulkley in the east. This was evident in the census of 1897 and 1947 where we note that the standards of living were at their lowest in areas that had very few foreigners, and were at their highest in areas that had large numbers of foreigners.

During the period before the First World War European journalists participated in the everyday political events according to what European interests in the region dictated. With the end of the war Lambelin mentions in his book L’Egypte El L’Anglettere that some communist agents came to Egypt to gain support for their movement in defiance of the British.

Europeans in the city retained their own distinctive characteristics. Every community had its own carefully organized society, church or temple, clergymen, schools, hospitals, cemeteries, national feasts and special festivals for their marriages and other social occasions. In general they had their own unique status in Alexandrian society since they controlled trade activities in the city and they set out the  models of behavior and fashion. At the same time they practiced all types of professions accomplished by the Egyptians themselves. But they gave more importance to education than the Egyptians did. Italians worked as locksmiths, carpenters and parking lot owners. They also worked as doctors and lawyers and participated in the building and construction sector. The newspaper La Bourse Egyptienne in its special issue L’Egypte Communautes Et Colonies (February 1933) finds that Italians in Egypt with their intellect and manual labor competed in the construction of Egypt more than their interest in gaining any collective privileges. They had their own hospital, schools, newspapers and financial institutions, such as the Bank of Rome, the Commercial Bank and the Italian Chamber of Commerce. One of their famous poets Guessepe was born in Alexandria and was influenced by it according to Nicola Youssef’s article in El Helal; Guessepe became a friend of Mohamed Nagi and Ahmed Shawky Bey.

The French in Alexandria seemed to think that their activities in Egypt are an extension of their ancestors’ who came with Napoleon Bonaparte to Egypt and who aided Mohamed Ali in his projects. That was why they cooperated with Egyptians in cultural, arts and industrial aspects. They continued to do so until they signed the Entente Cordiale with Britain in 1904 sympathizing and cooperating politically with the Egyptians in their nationalist movement.

The French impact on Alexandria lies in their educational institutions and those were numerous. In the early thirties 30 French Institutes included 11031 students 561 of them were French.  One of them was the Mission Laique which owned and managed the Lycee School and the Frere Schools which owned St Mark and Saint Catherine in Moharem Bey and Bacos..etc.

Despite the fact that most of the British community in the city came from Malta yet British influences  in the Alexandrian society were clear. They had their own schools, hospitals, charity, social and commercial institutions. They founded Victoria College in 1901 in Azarita in the same style as that of the British public schools for students of all nationalities. It was moved to its current location in 1909. They  had St Andrew’s School (1859) which settled in Sislila (1900) when the government granted it a piece of land, after intervention from Lord Cromer. They also had Girls Scottish School (1861) then the British Boys School was founded in 1928 after an initiative from Lord Lloyd.

In addition to the Anglo Swiss hospital the British had their own charity institutions in the city, such as the British Benevolent Fund for aiding British subjects and a Cottage Home for Old Women. They also had their social institutions such as the British Legion to help veteran soldiers and the Soldiers and Sailors Institute and Alexandria’s Merchant Seamen’s Home. The British also formed Boy Scout groups in 1912 and girls scout groups in 1921. They had a British Book Club, a Society for Drama and Music Lovers, the Sporting Club and the Union Club whose membership was open to all nationalities. They also founded the British Boat Club in 1919.

Egyptians and the British authorities respected the British Chamber of Commerce in Alexandria (1896) as its members expressed the general British public opinion in Egypt. They also founded the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and a hospital was established for that society in Moharem Bek.

The Jews in Alexandria in the early thirties of this century were 30000 and they formed a community that had a great impact on the Alexandrian society. It was comprised of Jews from different nationalities. However, for a Jew his religion was more important than his nationality, as he lived within his Jewish community, his nationality represented to him the passport he carried and not more. He used to close his shop in Jewish feasts like Purim, and in Kippur crowds of Jews used to go to Nabi Daniel street, each carrying his sacred book in a velvet bag. In the city there existed a Jewish aristocracy dating back to the 19^th century.  That social class used to spend their summer in England or France, and their women were always elegantly dressed. They had their own villas and magnificent palaces where they used to receive British officials and diplomatic cord men, specially foreigners. Very few of that elite Jewish aristocracy had an Egyptian nationality. Most of them preferred to belong to one of the major countries like England, France, Austria and Italy.

The Jews of Alexandria managed to organize themselves with the support of Europe and established various educational, health, sports and social institutions in the city. For instance the Alliance Israelite founded two French schools one for boys and the other for girls. The Jews also offered their support to their immigrants who came to Alexandria on special occasions.

The Jewish community in the city played a limited role in the Zionist activities outside Palestine. They founded in 1908 as Taragan Bension states in his book Les Communautes Israelites D’Alexandrie a small society known as Bene Zion to adopt the Basil Programme. The following year a new society was formed made up of Russian immigrants called Zeire Zion. Some think, like the writer Ahmed Bahaa El Din in his introduction to Ahmed Ghoneim’s book The Jews and the Zionist Movement in Egypt that the movement, at the time, aimed to destroy the Jews loyalty to the Arab countries they lived in.

The Greek community in Alexandria was always the largest in number according to the census of 1947, they comprised half the foreigners in the city. Greek families began to settle in Alexandria during Mohamed Ali’s reign and ever since 1830 they formed their own community in the city. Their community was respected among other foreign communities and their financial institutions in the city prospered such as Alvago, Tozziza, Cozzika and Benochi.

During the period between 1862 and 1972 the Greeks of Alexandria alone issued 253 newspapers and magazine most of them Greek, some in Arabic, French or English, and some were multilingual. Examples of those publications are the Lighthouse in Arabic in 1888, Journal du Commerce et de la Marine in French in 1909, Athletic News in English in 1924. Moreover, many Greek books were published on Egyptian issues.

Alexandria witnessed many Greek poets such as Costantine Kafafis 1863-1933 who was bored with the British occupation of the country and his poems participated in strengthening the nationalist spirit of the people. He used to live in a house that still exists in Koum El Dekka, the same district where the great Sayed Darwish was born. Among the poems he wrote we find Alexandria’s Museum, Cleopatra, and Alexander the Great Speaks to Egypt. Another Greek poet was Costantine Costantinedes who knew the Arabic language quite well and wrote poems on the countryside, peasants and Pharoahs land. He established with his colleagues a literary club they named The New Life Club and issued in 1904 a periodical with the same name.

During the first half of the 20^th century many European women poets emerged in Alexandria, most of them were Greek. They published their poetry in newspapers and periodicals.

Conclusion

Europeans left their indelible marks on many aspects of Alexandrian life, whether architecture, parks, beaches etc. Alexandria housed a population made up of many European nationalities, and was described as a cosmopolitan. Thus it did not possess a local distinctive character. For example as regards architecture the British built houses in their own British style in the Raml Suburb surrounded by trees. The Italians decorated their terraces with pergolas of the Florentine style. The Greeks erected schools with Athenian facades.

In Sherif Street (now known as Salah Salem) which is the commercial district of the city, you could see the flags of different countries on Sundays and public holidays on every door and porch. For instance you could find a shop displaying products from Paris, next to it a Greek book shop, then a carpet dealer from Costantinople, a grocery from Napoli and a Danish selling porcelain dishes, another from Bulgaria making yoghurt…etc. The beaches of Alexandria in the summer resembled European resorts. Up till now parts of the city still carry European names such as Camp Caesar, Stanely, Glimonopolis and Zizinia.

Alexandrian men were known as businessmen while Alexandria’s women were famous for their beauty and charm. Work for Alexandrians was accompanied a tendency to enjoy the pleasures of life.

Finally some would like in their description of life in Alexandria to reiterate the ancient Greek poet Herondas when he said: Alexandria today looks like Aphrodite’s home in it one finds everything; fortune, sports, blue skies, beautiful sights, handsome youth, beautiful women to be compared only with the goddesses chosen by Paris the god who chose Aphrodite before them.