## *SEPHARDIC WORLD MEETING, SUNDAY 19 SEPTEMBER 2021*## *WITH VALERIE MCGUIRE*## *THE JEWS OF RHODES: BETWEEN OTTOMANS AND ITALIANS*A Jewish community had lived in Rhodes and Kos since Antiquity. In 1912 Italy captured these Aegean islands from an Ottoman Empire in decline. Planning an ambitious future of a 'Roman' empire in the Mediterranean, the Italian state invested in rebuilding and growing the Jewish community. Some resident Jews eventually acquired Italian citizenship. But the rise of Mussolini’s Fascist dictatorship also meant a complex and difficult relationship between the Italian state and the Jewish community. This talk discusses the history of Jews in the islands during this period, the different archival sources available for researching it, and some of the meanings of this history for contemporary debates about nationality and belonging.***Valerie McGuire*** is a Lecturer of Italian Studies and Comparative Literature at the University of St Andrews (Scotland). Her book, Italy's Sea: Empire and Nation in the Mediterranean, 1895-1945 (Liverpool University Press, 2020), investigates Italy's colonization of Rhodes and other islands in the Aegean and critiques the concept of the Mediterranean within Italian culture.The meeting is on Sunday 19 September 2021 at 11am in LA, 2pm NYC, 7pm London, 8pm Paris/Amsterdam, and 9pm Jerusalem. Patrons can join us on Zoom. The link is shared at our Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/sephardiEveryone is invited to join us for free at https://www.youtube.com/SephardicGenealogyAndHistory/Please subscribe to the YouTube channel. It helps us a lot and reminds you when we are going live!Over the last year and a half Sephardic World has become the leading forum for learning about Sephardic history and genealogy. We have no commercial sponsorship or public funding. There is no charge to attend our meetings or to view our content. If you are not a patron and can afford it, please consider supporting our work. https://www.patreon.com/sephardi*Best wishes,**Ton and David**Sephardic World*