Lucia Carminati - Seeking Bread and Fortune in Port Said

This lecture will be hosted on Thursday, 23 April 2026 at 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm.

After Port Said was founded in 1859, it quickly emerged as a destination for fortune seekers from across Egypt, other Ottoman provinces, the Mediterranean basin, and regions further south. The brand-new town did offer numerous opportunities to make a living, including toiling at the worksites or catering to tourists.

But migrant men, women, and children did more than simply seek opportunity: they actively shaped the town and made the Suez Canal possible, thereby altering the course of Egyptian, Mediterranean, and global history. Through moments of light and darkness, Port Said kept growing and puzzling observers: was it a showcase of modernity or a mere backwater? Was it truly a part of Egypt? And was -indeed is- it exceptional? This talk engages with these questions as it bridges the Lucia Carminati's book’s findings with some lines for future research.

About the Speaker

Lucia is Professor of History at the University of Oslo. She obtained her PhD from the University of Arizona in 2018. She teaches migration history, modern Middle East history, and research methodology classes. Her first book, Seeking Bread and Fortune in Port Said. Labor Migration and the Making of the Suez Canal, 1859–1906, has won the 2024 Best Book in Urban History (excluding the U.S., Canada, and Europe) of the Urban History Association.

Attention!

The lecture starts at 6 pm. The number of seats is limited and we work on a first-come, first-served basis. We open our doors at 5:30 and close them at 6:15 or earlier in case the lecture room reaches its full capacity.