Athens – The book “I greci di Livorno: la ‘comunità esemplare’” by A. Koraìs will be presented in Athens on May 7. The presentation, organized by the Italian Cultural Institute of Athens in collaboration with the Borgo dei Greci – Livorno association, will take place in the light of the proceedings from the conference “Tradition and Modernity: the Greek community of Livorno between the 18th and 19th centuries”. The event, hosted at the Italian Cultural Institute, will feature contributions from Andrea Addobbati, Umberto Cini, and Ioannis Tsolkas. It can be said that Livorno, a “new city,” and its Greek community were born together: sailors, merchants, and craftsmen of Hellenic origin settled there as early as the late 16th century. For a long time, the Greeks played a secondary role compared to other national communities, particularly Jews, English, and Dutch. Around the mid-18th century, the position of the Greek colony began to change: it grew in numbers, became institutionally consolidated, emerged as a key player in maritime trade, and finally obtained authorization for Orthodox worship. While other national merchant guilds declined, the Greeks took part in the city’s civil development, asserting their identity. The volume, which collects the contributions of a conference held on the bicentenary of Greek independence, reflects on the path to modernity of the Greeks of Livorno—an exemplary nucleus, according to Koraìs, of the diaspora within which the first seeds of national emancipation took shape. (9colonne)