Name of Object:

Third-grade pupils of the Italian state-funded Giovanni Meli primary school in Tunis

Name in original language:

R. scuola elementare 'Giovanni Meli'. Classe III

Location:

Rome, Italy

Holding Institution:

Italian Geographical Society (SGI)

 About Italian Geographical Society (SGI), Rome

Holding Institution (original language):

Società Geografica Italiana (SGI)

Date of Object:

First years of the 20th century

Description:

In 1831, siblings Pompeo and Ester Sulema, political refugees from Livorno, opened the first Italian school in Tunis. By the end of the 19th century, there were 21 Italian state schools in Tunisia: 13 in Tunis, three in La Goulette, three in Sousse and two in Sfax. Five of them were pre-schools, eleven were primary schools and five were secondary schools.
The Italian State could run schools in Tunisia thanks to the treaty signed by Italy and Tunisia in 1868. In 1881, Tunisia became a French protectorate and in 1896 Italy and France signed a treaty over the status of Italians in Tunisia: the Italian state could continue to run schools in Tunisia but could not open new ones. So, classes became very crowded, as shown in this photo.

Archival or Bibliographical Reference:

Comitato della Camera italiana di commercio ed arti, Gli italiani in Tunisia, Tunis, 1906, p. 107

Citation of this web page:

Giulia Barrera "Third-grade pupils of the Italian state-funded Giovanni Meli primary school in Tunis" in "Sharing History", Museum With No Frontiers, 2025.
https://sharinghistory.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;AWE;it;117;en

Prepared by: Giulia Barrera
Copyedited by: Anne Dowell

MWNF Working Number: IT1 117