Italians, freemasons and the Dawn of Egyptian nationalism

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.