An Italian Writer in the Early Years of the Turkish Republic: Antonio Baldini

Abstract

This study reviews observations on Ankara made by Antonio Baldini, the 20th century Italian writer, traveler, and journalist. Baldini visited Ankara and travelled in the newly established Republic of Turkey in 1930 upon the request of the newspaper 'Corriere Della Sera', and published his observations in a work entitled Diagonale 1930, Parigi-Ankara. It can be said that the observations of Baldini, and other Italians who witnessed the transformation of Ankara, have not been as closely studied as the works of other travelers and scholars. One of the most remarkable elements of Baldini's multi-linguistic and multicultural story is how it describes the transformation of Ankara into a modern capital. The work 'L'Odeporica/Hodoeporics', which a foundational travel literature text containing the works of Luigi Monga and Franco Cambi, is used in the examination of Baldini's travel notes and observations.

Keywords

• antonio baldini
• italian travellers
• l'odeporica
• hodoeporics
• italian literature
• early republican period of türkiye
• ankara