ABSTRACT

In the Middle East and North Africa, Freemasonry became a considerable phenomenon between the second half of the nineteenth century and the mid-twentieth century, contributing in a more or less significant extent according to the cases, to the political and cultural developments of the region. The role of Masonry in the Arab and Islamic countries has been the subject of a number of studies on specific personalities, environments, or regions, however, many aspects would deserve more attention. This paper will focus on a segment of this history unexplored by other historians, that is the role of Italians in developing Egyptian National Freemasonry and, more in particular, the Italian Freemasons and Risorgimento culture contribution to shaping Egyptian proto-nationalism. During the nineteenth century many Italians exiles of the Risorgimento movements migrated to Egypt, where they became involved in masonic activities, but they also reached out the first nationalist organisations, spreading Mazzini’s ideas and ideals. In the following pages, two issues will be explored to ascertain the Italian Risorgimento influence: the activity of the Italian Masons, that emerges from documents of Masonic Archives and testimonies of the time, and the contribution to the Egyptian nationalist thought by the playwright and journalist James Sanua.

摘要

在中东和北非，共济会在 19 世纪下半叶至 20 世纪中叶之间成为一种相当大的现象，根据案例或多或少地对该地区的政治和文化发展做出了重要贡献. 砌体在阿拉伯和伊斯兰国家的作用一直是许多关于特定人物、环境或地区的研究的主题，然而，许多方面值得更多关注。本文将重点关注这段历史中其他历史学家未探索的部分，即意大利人在发展埃及民族共济会中的作用，更具体地说，是意大利共济会和复兴运动对塑造埃及原始民族主义的贡献。在 19 世纪，许多意大利复兴运动的流亡者移居埃及，在那里他们参与了共济会活动，但他们也接触了第一批民族主义组织，传播了马志尼的思想和理想。在接下来的几页中，将探讨两个问题以确定意大利复兴运动的影响：意大利共济会的活动，从共济会档案的文件和当时的证词中出现，以及剧作家和记者对埃及民族主义思想的贡献詹姆斯·萨努阿。