Levantine Heritage Foundation

Research - Education - Preservation

It is the past that tells us who we are. Without it, we lose our identity - Prof Stephen Hawking

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Upcoming Events - LHF

21 September 2017, 6-9 pm

26th Levantine Heritage Foundation dinner gathering in London, with guest speakers Dr Jonathan Conlin, senior lecturer in modern history at Southampton University on ‘Very Loyal Subjects and Friends of Our Country: The Gulbenkians and Ottoman/Turkish Economic Development, 1880-1935’ and Nicholas Pelham, author and Middle East correspondent of The Economist, on his Alexandrian and Levantine background - flyer: - booking:

TBC September 2017, 8.30 pm

2nd LHF-Istanbul talk and dinner social evening with guest speaker Prof İlber Ortaylı: Levantines of Istanbul - their lives and their contributions (in Turkish) - information: - flyer:

20-22 October 2017

LHF Second Beyoğlu Conference in Istanbul: ‘Levantines as pioneers of Modernization in Industry and Trade in the Ottoman Empire’ - call for papers - enquiries:

18 January 2018

27th Levantine Heritage Foundation dinner gathering in London, with guest speaker David Abulafia, author and pre-eminent historian of the Mediterrenean basin - details to be finalised soon.

2-3 November 2018

3rd Levantine Heritage Foundation international conference: ‘Heritage and Diasporas in the Levant’, Athens, Greece - enquiries:

We are sad to report the death of Nancy Cutcliffe, mother of contributor Belinda Levitan and grand-daughter of George Percival Baker of Istanbul who together with his brothers ran the carpet exporting business. Nancy Cutcliffe died on 13 April 2017, several weeks short of her 102nd birthday. May she rest in peace - Nancy’s Istanbul photo album:

Another sad death of late is that of author and professor John Freely who passed away on 20 April 2017 aged 90, an expert of Istanbul history and who attended our Istanbul conference as guest of honour in 2014 - Eulogy - external obituary: / from Cornucopia:

External Events

until 20 July 2017

Exhibition: ‘Harbor’, Istanbul Modern, Meclis-i Mebusan Cad., Liman İşletmeleri Sahası Antrepo no: 4, Karaköy, Istanbul

until 13 August 2017

Exhibition: ‘From Stavnsager to Constantinople’ , Museum Østjylland, Stemannsgade 2, 8900 Randers, Denmark

until 3 September 2017

Exhibition & Events: ‘Syria: A Conflict Explored’, Imperial War Museum, Lambeth Road, London

7-8 September 2017

Symposium: ‘Heinrich Friedrich von Diez (1751-1817) – Diplomat, Orientalist, and Collector’, State library Berlin, Germany

28-29 September 2017

Call for papers - Research Workshop: ‘Multiplicity of Divisions: Boundaries and Borders of the Habsburg, Ottoman, and Russian Empires in the 19th –early 20th Century’, History Faculty, Hryhoriy Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University, Kharkiv, Ukraine - deadline: 10 July 2017

29-30 September 2017

Conference: ‘Knowledge Exchange. Europe and the Black Sea Region, ca. 1750 – 1850’, Southeast European History and Anthropology, University of Graz, Austria

4-6 October 2017

‘International Symposium on Turkey-Romania Relations: Past and Present’, Constanta, Romania

until 10 October 2017

Exhibition: Silver & Salt - Early Photographs from Ömer M. Koç Collection: 1843-1860 - Büyükdere Mahallesi, Büyükdere Piyasa Cad. No: 27- 29, Sarıyer, İstanbul

26-27 October 2017

Workshop: ‘Transcending boundaries? Solidarity in the pre-industrial period’, Bruges, Belgium

3-4 November 2017

Seminar: ‘Ethnicity, Faith and Communal Relations in the Pre-Modern Mediterranean’, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA - deadline 21 July 2017

3-5 November 2017

Conference: ‘Economic transformation in Cyprus and the Levant, 1850-1939’, Nicosia, Cyprus - deadline 1 July 2017

6 November 2017, 7.15 pm

Lecture with Concert: The Greek Side of the Ottoman Music – Manuscripts of Lampadarios, Kudsi Erguner on Ney and Giannis Koutis on Ud and vocal - The Hellenic Centre, 16-18 Paddington Street, Marylebone, London

13-14 November 2017

International Workshop: Dialogues in Late Medieval Mediterranean: between East and West - University of Granada, Spain - deadline: 25 July 2017

17 November 2017

International Workshop: Politics and Sociability in a Transcultural Context: The Diplomatic Milieu in Istanbul during the Long Eighteenth Century - German Historical Institute, Hôtel Duret-de-Chevry, 8 rue du Parc-Royal, Paris - deadline: 14 July 2017

20 November 2017, 7.15 pm

Lecture: The Geography of Cyrus in the Middle of the 19th Century – Evidence from Lord Kitchener’s Historical Map of Cyprus (edition of 1985), Dr Christos Chalkias - The Hellenic Centre, 16-18 Paddington Street, Marylebone, London

November 2017, TBC

Lecture: Intervention: an Eastern Mediterranean genealogy - Andrew Arsan (University Lecturer in Modern Middle Eastern History, University of Cambridge) - Hamilton 501, Columbia University, New York, USA - info:

24-25 November 2017

Call for papers: Conference on the Social, Cultural and Economic History of İzmir and the Region, The Hrant Dink Foundation - info: - deadline: 30 June 2017

4-5 January 2018

Call for papers: ICCHOE 2018: 20th International Conference on Culture and History of Ottoman Empire, Mercure Grand Hotel, Doha, Qatar - deadline: 26 May 2017

2-3 April 2018

Symposium: Migration and Cultural Interaction in Ottoman Empire and Turkey, Sabahattin Zaim University, Halkalı, Istanbul - deadline 17 December 2017.

9-11 May 2018

Conference: 5th Mediterranean Maritime History Network, Ovidius University, Constanta, Romania - deadline 16 July 2017

13-17 May 2018

Seminar: Maritime Networks as a Factor in European Integration, Fondazione Istituto Internazionale di Storia Economica ‘F. Datini’, Prato, Italy - info:

21-22 May 2018

Call for papers - ICCHOE 2018: 20th International Conference on Culture and History of Ottoman Empire, Hollywood Media Hotel, Berlin, Germany - deadline: 21 July 2017

29 August - 1 September 2018

Call for papers - Spectacle, Entertainment, and Recreation in the Modernizing Ottoman Empire, Department of Business Studies – Roma Tre University, Via Silvio d’Amico 77, Rome, Italy - deadline: 5 October 2017

25-26 May 2019

Call for papers - 21st International Conference on History and Culture of Ottoman Empire, Holiday Inn London – Wembley, Empire Way, Wembley, London - deadline: 25 July 2018

In Memoriam

Livio Missir de Lusignan has died

We are sad to report the death of the foremost scholar on Levantine studies Livio Missir de Lusignan on 16 October 2015. The scholar was born in Izmir 1931 and has published numerous papers and books on the story and genealogy of Levantines. May he rest in peace. Obituary:

Giovanni Scognamillo has died

We are sad to report the death of the Istanbul resident Levantine Giovanni Scognamillo on 8 October 2016, aged 87. He was an author, Turkish film historian, film critique and one of the last surviving symbols of Pera Levantines. In 2006 his book ‘A Levantine in Beyoğlu’ was filmed as a documentary. May he rest in peace. Obituary:

Padre Stefano has died

We are sad to report the death of one of the longest serving priests in Izmir, Padre Stefano Negro on 4 January 2017, who started his ministry in the city in 1976 and was the priest-in-charge of St Rosario Church in Alsancak. He was known by all the Catholics of the city and will be sorely missed. May he rest in peace. Obituary: