This paper investigates the Levantine Frank community in Athens under Ottoman rule. It focuses primarily on the latter half of the eighteenth century, when a small number of Western Europeans, mainly of French descent, established permanent residence in the city, through the Greek Revolution. Shifting attention away from their primarily commercial roles, the study examines the cultural impact of this Levantine community by analyzing travel accounts, French consular records, local historiography, and material evidence. Re-examining these sources reveals a complex interplay of identity, culture, commerce, and rivalry, offering new insights into the Levantine Franks’ processes of local adaptation, their degree of acculturation, and the reciprocal mixing of cultural norms and practices.
About the speaker: Nicolas Nicolaides is a historian of intellectual and religious history, holding a PhD in Intellectual History from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (2022). He is currently a researcher at the Center for Asia Minor Studies, where his work focuses on Greek Orthodox scholars in Ottoman Cappadocia. He was previously a Kathlyn and Peter Yatrakis fellow at the Gennadius Library of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (2023–2024), researching the French mercantile community in late Ottoman Athens. His interests include the Greek Enlightenment, Ottoman Christian intellectual culture, and the circulation of knowledge. He has collaborated with institutions such as the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Public Humanities Initiative at Columbia University, the Laskaridis Foundation, the Benaki Museum, and the Onassis Library. Alongside his academic work, he has contributed to public history initiatives, digital exhibitions, and cultural projects related to Athens’ urban history.
