Levantine Heritage Foundation

Upcoming Events - LHF

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:

2-3 November 2018

3rd Levantine Heritage Foundation international conference: ‘The Levant: Diasporas and Nationalities’, 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

23-24 September 2017, 11 am - 6 pm

Open Doors 2017 / European Heritage Days in Rhodes: a total of sixteen historic buildings, including such high points as the mock Venetian ‘Palazzo del Governo’ and the modernist Court House, will open their doors for the public, Rhodes town, Greece - info:

25 September 2017, 6-9 pm

Book launch: ‘Lawrence of Arabia and Lowell Thomas, A Grand Celebration’, The Explorers Club, 46 East 70th Street, New York, USA

26 September 2017 - 4 January 2018

Exhibition: ‘Oriental Christians: 2,000 Years of History’ - Arab World Institute, 1 Rue des Fossés, Saint-Bernard, Paris, France

28-29 September 2017

Conference: ‘Through the Looking Glass of the Local: Rereading Istanbul’s Heterogeneous Pasts’, Library Hall at Max Planck Institute - MMG, Göttingen, Germany

28-29 September 2017

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

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 October 2017, 6.30 pm

Lecture: The Dutch Women of Early Modern Istanbul, Marloes Cornelissen (Sabancı University) - Netherlands Institute in Turkey, Beyoğlu, İstanbul

4-6 October 2017

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

6 October 2017, 3-6 pm

Symposium: ‘Black Sea Myths and Modern Europe’, Heyman Center Common Room, Columbia University, USA

7 October - 11 November 2017

Eğitim Programı: Osmanlı’dan Günümüze Levantenler ve Katolikler - İstanbul Bilgi Üniversitesi, İstanbul

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

19-21 October 2017

Symposium: Aegean Islands - Turkish Historical Society in association with Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, Turkey

23 October 2017, 7 - 8.45 pm

Lecture: Culture in Crisis: At Home in Syria - artist Zahed Tajeddin and author Diana Darke, The Lydia & Manfred Gorvy Lecture Theatre, V&A Museum, London

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

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

7 November 2017, 6-7.30 pm

Documentary screening and discussion: The White Helmets, with Professor Tim Jacoby - Manchester Museum, The University of Manchester, Oxford Rd, Manchester, England

9-10 November 2017

Symposium: Mediterranean Cities: Urban Poetics, Urban (geo)Politics - Netherlands Institute in Turkey, Beyoğlu, İstanbul

13 November 2017, 1-2 pm

Lecture: The Eastern Question: From Ukraine to Syria, a 300-Year Old Story - Dr. Williams, The Institute of World Politics, 1521 16th St. NW, Washington DC, USA

13-14 November 2017

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

16-18 November 2017

Symposium: The Mediterranean In Motion - Izmir Mediterranean Academy, Ahmed Adnan Saygun Sanat Merkezi, Izmir, Turkey

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

Conference: The Social, Cultural and Economic History of İzmir and the Region, The Hrant Dink Foundation, Izmir

24-25 November 2017

Conference: II. International Interdisciplinary Conference on Middle East, Nippon Hotel, Topçu Caddesi No:6, Taksim, Istanbul

5 December 2017, 2-3 pm

Lecture: The fall of Jerusalem, Dr Juliette Desplat, The National Archives, Kew, London

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 15 September 2017

26-28 January 2018

Call for papers: Re-thinking Nationalism, Sectarianism, and Ethno-Religious Mobilisation in the Middle East, Pembroke College, Oxford, England - deadline: 15 September 2017

12 February 2018, 4.30 pm

Lecture: Constantinople and the Eurasian Trading System at the end of Antiquity, Peter Sarris (University of Cambridge), Scheide Caldwell House 103, University of Princetown, New Jersey, USA

2-3 April 2018

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

13 April 2018, 12-2 pm

Lecture: Trans-Imperial Archives: Rethinking Spatial Knowledge Production in the Venetian-Ottoman Borderlands - E. Natalie Rothman, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA

9-11 May 2018

Conference: 5th Mediterranean Maritime History Network, Ovidius University, Constanta, Romania

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

ICCHOE 2018: 20th International Conference on Culture and History of Ottoman Empire, Hollywood Media Hotel, Berlin, Germany

31 May - 2 June 2018

Call for papers - ‘Indigeneity’, Annual Meeting of the French Colonial Historical Society – Seattle, Washington, USA - deadline: 1 November 2017

25-28 June 2018

Call for papers - ‘New Approaches to Studying the Middle East’, BRISMES 2018 – Department of Middle Eastern Studies, King’s College London - deadline: 1 December 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:

Our supporters

Catoni Group

Italian Cultural Institute, Istanbul.

Beyoğlu Municipality

Consolidated International Agencies

LHF Istanbul volunteer group