São Paulo – Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt in 1798 is the topic of the two first classes of the Round of Meetings on Arab-Islamic History and Culture, July 3 and 10, at 7 pm, at the auditorium of bookstore Livraria Martins Fontes Paulista, at Avenida Paulista, 509, 2nd floor, in São Paulo. The meetings are being organized by Lente Cultural with the support of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce.
According to professor Plínio Freire Gomes, the classes will discuss the fact that Napoleon invaded Egypt as a geopolitical strategy to break the connection between England and its larger colony, India, to force the British to leave France. The history will be told from the viewpoint of the Egyptian people, covering the consequences of the French invasion to the local population, which ends up organizing politically and creates a nationalist movement out of the occupation, which lasted for around one year. In the picture above, Napoleon is riding a camel in the painting “Napoleon in Egypt”, from 1863, by painter Jean-León Gerome.
“This historical episode marks the foundation of geopolitics, which is among us until this day, in which nations attack strategically-located countries, near their ‘enemies’, to disorganize them economically and politically. Based on this same line of thought, we have the Iraq War after September 11, by George W. Bush, and the Vietnam War, a consequence of the Cold War (between the Soviet Union and the United States),” said Gomes, who will teach the classes.
The professor has a master’s degree in History at the University of São Paulo (USP), lived for nearly 20 years between Europe and the Middle East and is an expert in the Islamic culture. He teaches at the São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP), the Sacred Art Museum and the São Paulo Museum of Modern Art (MAM); and in organizations such as Casa do Saber, Maria Antonia University Center and Institute of Arab Culture, plus the collective group Lente Cultural, from which he’s a founding member.
Gomes will also teach the classes on The “Cruzades”: History and Mith I and II, on September 10 and 17. In all, there will be eleven meetings with a myriad of topics within the central theme, and the last one is scheduled for December 4. The ticket price for each lecture is BRL 45 (USD 12.06).
Lente Cultural is a cooperative project that promotes courses on Literature, History, Art History and Philosophy, aiming to offer access to the general public, from all ages, at a below the market prices. For further information and registrations, visit Lente Cultural’s website.
Quick info
Napoleon in Egypt I and II – Round of Meetings on Arab-Islamic History and Culture
July 3 and 10, from 7 pm to 9:30 pm
Auditorioum of bookstore Livraria Martins Fontes Paulista
Avenida Paulista, 509, 2nd floor – São Paulo – SP
www.lentecultural.com.br
Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
