STUDY DAY 2026: ITALIAN JEWS IN THE CONTEXT OF COLONIAL TUNISIA (19TH–20TH CENTURIES): A HISTORY TO BE RETHOUGHT?

The SHJT, in partnership with the Commission française des Archives juives (CFAJ) and the library of the Alliance israélite universelle (AIU), is pleased to invite you to its next study day, which will take place on Sunday 7 June in the auditorium of the Alliance library.

Doors open at 9:30 am

Free admission, but registration is required via the following link: https://bit.ly/shjt-journee-juin-2026

or by scanning the following QR code.

Organised by:
The Society for the History of the Jews of Tunisia (SHJT)

In partnership with:

The Commission française des Archives juives (CFAJ)
The library of the Alliance israélite universelle (AIU)

Auditorium of the Alliance israélite universelle
Centre Édouard J. Safra
6 bis, rue Michel Ange
75016 PARIS

(Metro: Michel-Ange Auteuil – Bus 72, 62, 241, 88, 52)

PROGRAMME

9h45 – 12h

Opening of the Day

Visible yet made invisible. The Italian Jews of Tunisia: issues, sources and approaches.

Martino Oppizzi
Institut d’Histoire Moderne et Contemporaine (IHMC)

Session 1 – Community history and institutions

Chaired by

VALÉRIE ASSAN
Groupe Sociétés, Religions, Laïcités (EPHE-CNRS, PSL)
Commission française des archives juives

–

The Italian Jewish community of Tunisia: a historical introduction

Silvia Finzi
Professor emerita, President of the Dante Alighieri Society, Tunis branch

–

Twansa and grâna: one community or two? (19th-20th centuries)

Claude Nataf
SHJT

–

The image of Italian Jews among their Tunisian and French coreligionists.
Between religious bond and a sense of otherness

Jérémy Guedj
Université Côte d’Azur

Session 2 – Families and nationality between Livorno and Tunis

14h – 16h

Chaired by
LAURE POLITIS
Director of the library and archives of the Alliance israélite universelle

The genealogy of the Livornese Jews in the 19th century

Alain Nedjar
Cercle de Généalogie juive (CGJ)

–

The Livornese community of Tunis (grâna): the origins of families

Alexander Beider
Historical linguistics

–

Between subjects of the Bey of Tunis and subjects of the Duke of Tuscany:
the nationality of the grâna before the Protectorate

Jessica Maya Marglin
University of Southern California (USC)

Session 3 – Political crises, persecutions and memories

16h15 – 18h

Chaired by
MARIE-ANNE MATARD BONUCCI
Université Paris 8 – Member of the Institut universitaire de France

Opponents or collaborators? Italian Jews and the rise of Fascism (1921-1938)

Martino Oppizzi
Institut d’Histoire Moderne et Contemporaine (IHMC)

–

The defence of Italian Jews in Fascist territorial claims policy on Tunisia (1940-1942)

Michele Sarfatti
Fondazione Centro di Documentazione Ebraica Contemporanea (Milan)

–

Virtual presences. Tunisia in the memory of Italian Jews

Filippo Petrucci
University of Genoa