Scandalo al sole. La vicenda dell’Orfanotrofio De Cristoforis di Massawa (1889-1891)

In May 1889, Father Bonaventura Piscopo, a military chaplain who had recently arrived in Massawa, established and ran an orphanage with an attached arts and crafts school. This private initiative sheds light on the tensions and collaborations between ecclesiastical circles and the colonial government regarding the education and management of African childhood, especially orphans. The case study, reconstructed using archival sources and photographic material, provides an opportunity to contemplate a new form of cohabitation for indigenous children, underscore the significance of education for the colonial administration, and evaluate how mobility became a resource for managing the welfare of African children