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The Question of Nationalism and Education in Libya under Italian Rule*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2015

Leonard Appleton
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Extract

Over thirty years of Italian rule in Libya (1911–1942), while leaving a considerable infrastructure of roads, schools and other public buildings, provided only a poor legacy in terms of skilled and educated Libyan manpower. This is attested by the fact that in 1951, there were only five graduates of Italian universities and perhaps ten from the Islamic University of Al-Azhar in Cairo. Moreover, there were no Arab directors of elementary schools or persons qualified for the non-Islamic professions or trained as agricultural experts. On the other hand, apologists of Italian rule emphasise that by 1942 Italy had made an important contribution towards solving some of Libya's most chronic problems. Although official statistics must be treated with caution, it is likely that by 1939 around 9676 pupils were enrolled in the halo-Arab schools, even if only 50% attended regularly. A further 147 students were said to be attending the School of Islamic Studies or al-Madrasah al-Islamiyya al-ùlyá at Tripoli which trained Islamic lawyers, school teachers and minor officials. 22 Moslem girls were also receiving training as nurses at the school of Princess Maria Pia originally set up in January 1936. The object of this paper, however, is not to narrate the achievements and defects of Italian rule in Libya, but to ask, what possible problems in the political, as opposed to the economic or other related fields, might have contributed to such a state of imbalance. Was it, for instance, some kind of “apartheid” policy on the part of the colonial regime that prevented Libyans from attending the excellent system of Italian secondary schools and so going on, like their Italian contemporaries, to become skilled artisans, technicians, engineers, doctors or administrators? Or was it because the mass of the Libyan population were so basically opposed to the Italian regime that they regarded attendance at the schools, whether elementary or secondary, as an act of collaboration with the hated oppressor? These are just two of the areas that would have to be explored by the historian before any explanation could be put forward of what can be termed the “central dilemma” of educational development in Libya under Italian rule.

Type
Research Article
Information
Libyan Studies , Volume 10 , 1979 , pp. 29 - 33
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Libyan Studies 1979

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Footnotes

*

Condensed from Italianization versus Arabization; the Central Dilemma of Italian Educational Activity in Libya (1911–1942): a paper given to the History of Education Seminar at the Institute of Historical Research, University of London, Malet St., on 8 February, 1979, at 5.30 pm.

References

Notes

1. See, Report of the Mission to Libya, UNESCO (Paris 1967), pp. 1–84Google Scholar; Hajjaji, S. A., The New Libya (Tripoli, 1967), p. 101Google Scholar; and Steele-Greig, A. J., A Short History of Education in Tripolitania (Tripoli, 1947), p. 18Google Scholar

2. See, Contini, F., “Storia delle istituzioni scholastiche della Libia”, Libia: Rivista Trimestrale Di Studi Libici, Anno I.N. 3, Luglio-Settembre (Tripoli, 1953), pp. 5–101, p. 97Google Scholar

3. See, Miège, J. L., L'Imperialismo Coloniale Italiano Dal 1870 al Giorni Nostri (Parigi, 1968), pp. 5–101Google Scholar; and Robertson, E. M., Mussolini as Empire Builder 1932–1936 (London, 1977), pp. 1–6Google Scholar.

4. See, Haim, S. G., Arab Nationalism, An Anthology (Los Angeles, 1976), pp. 3–72Google Scholar; and Evans-Pritchard, E. E., The Senusi of Cyrenaica (Oxford, 1949), pp. 134–157Google Scholar

5. See, Palamenghi-Crispi, T., “Le Scuole e la protezione dell' Italianità ali 'èstero”, Eltalia Coloniale E Francesco Crispi (Milano, 1928), pp. 213–240Google Scholar

6. See, Tibawi, A. L., Chapt. 5 “Philosophy of Modernisation” Islamic Education, Its Traditions and Modernisation into Arab National Systems (London, 1972), pp. 68–87Google Scholar

7. See, Coro, F., Chapt. XIII “Istruzione publica-Le scuole Turche e quelle Europee”, Settantasei Anni Di Dominazione Turca in Libia, 1835–1911 (Tripoli, 1913), pp. 85–89Google Scholar

8. Royal Decree of 15 January, 1914, n. 56, approving the educational organisation of Tripolitania, and Cyrenaica, . Bollettino Ufficiale del Ministero delle Colonie, 268Google Scholar

9. Vicegerent's Decree of 17 October, 1915, n. 1805, approving the scholastic regulations for Tripolitania and Cyrenaica. Ibid., 1916, 5

10. Colosimo, G., Relazione al Parliamento sulla situazione politica economica ed amministrativa delle colonie Italiane, Presentata alla Camera deputati il 23 febbraio, 1918 ed al Senato del Regno il 28 febbraio, 1918 (Roma, 1918), p. 367Google Scholar

11. For the text of the Fundamental Law, see Rochat, G., “Lo' statuto'concesso alia Tripolitania nel 1919”, Il Colonismo Italiano (Torino, 1973), pp. 106–111Google Scholar

12. Ibid., p. 108

13. “Only in the city of Tripoli, and only for the school year, 1921–22”, reported the scholastic superintendent, “was the conspicuous amount of 2.988.970 Lira spent on the construction of new schools”. These, he added, included a trachoma school, the Italian secondary schools, a mixed elementary school at Dahara, and professional school for girls. See, Piccioli Report of Nov. 1922, p. 78, Archive of the ex-Ministry of Italian Africa, Fondo Ufficio Studi, Cartone 6/2, Fase. B-1

14. In pursuit of the policy of “equal but separate development” a wide range of new schools was constructed during 1922 and 1923 in the towns and also in the countryside. Ibid., p. 75

15. Royal Decree of 21 June, 1928, n. 1698, approving primary instruction for Moslems in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica. Bollettino Ufficiale del Ministero delle Colonie, T., 19, 1141

16. Piccioli, Angelo, “La Conquista Morale: La Scuola”, La Rinascita Della Tripolitania, ed. Mondadori, A. (Milano, 1926), pp. 284–319, p. 296Google Scholar

17. See. F. Contini, Op. Cit., p. 87

18. See, Royal Vicegerent's Decree of 24 July, 1936, n. 1737. The Scholastic Ordinance of Libya. Bollettino Ufficiale del Governo della Libia, 30,1060. Also, the law of 23 May, 1940, whereby the Scholastic Ordinance of Libya, approved 24 July, 1935, n. 1737 is herewith modified. Ibid., 39, 1476

19. Italo Balbo, Air Marshal and Governor of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, 1.1.1934-21.12.1934. Governor General of Libya, 21.12.1934 28.6.1940, when he was killed in an aeroplane over Tobruk.

20. Details of the number of Libyans who applied for “special citizenship” or attended the Italian Secondary Schools in the final years of Italian rule are still not available from the Rome archives. Neither are they mentioned in the available secondary sources beyond 1936.