The Greeks were pioneers in cotton production, whether by introducing new methods of processing -Theodoros Rallis’ steam machines for instance, or by expanding production, such as Ioannis Zerbinis, who was the first to produce cotton oil and then soap, fertilizer and forage, or by creating new varieties of cotton, like N. Paracheimonas “Pelion”, Voltos Brothers’ “Voltos”, I. Sakellaridis’ “Sakel”, and others.

At the beginning of the 20th century, cotton represented 80 per cent of the total Egypt export, a quarter of this export was accomplished by five Greeks – Choremis, Benakis, Kazoulis, Salvagos, and Rodokanakis, along with their staff.

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The subject of this book (Volumes I – II) is the analysis of the ideology of the benefaction as well as the national and social consciousness which have been cultivated within the Greek Diaspora of Egypt. The wills of prominent actors of the Greek Community of Cairo (Ampet Brothers, Ev. Achillopoulos, Dim. Spetseropoulos, Kon. Xenakis, T. Kotsikas, St. Manoussakis, N. Tsanaklis) highlight their action characteristics, while the phenomenon of the benefaction is defined through the era specifics (19th – 20th century) and the process of transition to modernity.

Publisher: Papazisis                                                                                               Language: Greek                                                                                                                Pages:279                                                                                                                           ISBN/ISSN: 978-960-02-1568-7

Chapter 8, by Matoula Tomara – Sideris
Women’s Status in the Greek Colonies of Egypt

Migration is a gendered process (Tastsoglou and Maratou – Alipranti 2003). The Greek community in Egypt (mid – nineteenth to mid-twentieth century) is constituted according to the century-long journey tradition particular to Greeks and within the context colonialism’s consolidation, development and crisis, following a familiar, overtly gendered pattern: At first, mainly unwed men settle, for whom woman is an object of want and longing. Women follow, mainly as “family material”. Then the community’s endogenous dynamics become central, redefining gender relations within evolving contexts. This chapter considers the roles, status and activities differently located Greek women in Egypt across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. As a result, it examines the gendered dimensions of the Egyptiot community at multiple levels (demographic, social, economic, cultural, political) in their historical context.

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