Migrazioni italiane in Crimea e Nuova Russia: tracce, fonti, contesti
abstract
This article presents the state of the art and preliminary explorations of an ongoing research, concerning the history of an Italian migratory flow to New Russia and the Crimea in the years 1820-1920. The dynamics behind these patterns of migration are examined on the basis of primary and secondary sources, by addressing three main issues: the commercial relations between the Russian Black Sea region and the Italian states between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; the contribution of Italians in the Russian imperial plan of colonizing its southern regions; the profile of people who participated, at its early stage, in the formation of an Italian community in the Crimea. The recent recognition by the Russian state of a small community of Crimean Italians, which took place without historical debate, has made these questions urgent.
Keywords: Crimean Italians • Migration • Colonization • Crimea • Black Sea