The Swiss community in Genoa from the Old regime to the late nineteenth century

Drawing on extensive and original archival research, the article is the first to reconstruct the historical development of the Swiss community of Genoa. The Swiss were constant and significant agents of the Genoese economy and society over a log time span. From the Restoration to the late 19th century the Swiss merchant-bankers and textile industrialist continued to be active promoters of the city’s economic and trading system and their investments into steam-shipping and maritime insurance contributed to the modernization of the Genoese and Italian merchant fleet. They also created their own social spaces and identity within the city but the consolidation of the community’s external image did not weaken the Swiss élite’s integration with the local Genoese upper class.