Book Presentation
CEDEJ/IFAO
Christian missions, Education and Migrations in Egypt (1890-1970)
"Missionnaires italiens et enseignement en Egypte.
De la pastorale migratoire à la coopération technique", Le Caire/Rome, IFAO/ EFR, 2025
Author: Dr. Annalaura Turiano (CNRS, AmU)
November 9, 2025 at 2pm (Cairo time)
at CEDEJ
Summary
This book examines the Salesian mission and its network of schools in Egypt. It introduces an Italian perspective into the study of missionary activity in the modern Middle East, while shedding light on a largely overlooked field of education: vocational training. Drawing on previously unpublished archival materials in several languages and on oral testimonies, the book traces the trajectories of multiple generations of students, showing how Don Bosco’s vocational schools played a key role in the development of small family businesses and professional communities, particularly among foreigners and minority groups, up until the 1970s. The research provides a comprehensive overview of the evolution of technical and vocational education in colonial and postcolonial Egypt, addressing its educational, economic, and political dimensions. It also examines the remarkable expansion of this sector during the 1960s. The Salesian experience in Egypt is situated within a broader framework that encompasses the historical interactions between the Catholic Church and the Italian state, the history of Italian migration and ambitions in the Mediterranean, and the transnational history of education.
Annalaura Turiano holds a PhD in Middle Eastern studies from Aix Marseille University. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the PredicMo–Grammars of Preaching: lexis, mapping, staging (Middle East, 19th–21st centuries) program, funded by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche, and an associate researcher at the Centre Marc Bloch in Berlin. Her research focuses on the history of Christian missions, education, and philanthropy in modern Egypt. Her first monograph, Missionnaires italiens et éducation en Egypte : de la pastorale migratoire à la coopération technique (1890–1970),was published in 2025 by IFAO/EFR Press. She is currently editing with Malak Labib (CMB/ EUME) issue no. 158 of the Revue des mondes musulmans et de la Méditerranée (REMMM), devoted to “Philanthropy and Development in the Middle East (20th–21st centuries).
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