Dan Nunes Vais was born in Tripoli in 1946, during the period of British occupation that marked Libya’s transition from an Italian colony to independence. Both his parents and his grandparents were also born in Tripoli, while his great-grandparents had emigrated from Italy between the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. In particular, his maternal great-grandfather, Giannetto Paggi, originally from Pitigliano, had founded the first Jewish school in Tripoli, followed by the first Italian school.
The Nunes Vais family’s connection to Italy went beyond citizenship, which they had maintained in Libya for over a century. It was also reflected in their use of Italian as their native language, their cultural education, their lifestyle, and the social circles they frequented. The center of Tripoli, where Dan lived, had a distinctly Italian atmosphere, even after independence, thanks to the presence of a significant Italian minority.
The center of Tripoli was Italian, it was essentially an Italian city
Transcript
Dan Nunes Vais:
My father used to go for an aperitif with his friends
Interviewer:
Without their wives?
Dan Nunes Vais:
Well, my father worked and my mother was at home, so yes. There was the [Caffè] Corso, there was Gambrinus.
Interviewer:
Tell me some names [of cafés].
Dan Nunes Vais:
Caffè Corso, Gambrinus, then there was Bascetta, the ice cream maker, and Campi, the pastry chef, and then there was the dairy…
Interviewer:
Were they all Italian?
Dan Nunes Vais:
Yes, yes, all Italian. The center of Tripoli was Italian; it was an Italian city in every respect. We never needed to learn Arabic. I say that, unfortunately.
Dan attended Italian schools in Tripoli, from primary school on Via Roma to the Dante Alighieri High School, where he graduated at the age of sixteen. He mostly spent time with his Italian classmates, both Jewish and non-Jewish, including his free time, particularly at the beach club. Unlike his parents’ generation, who attended Jewish clubs like the Maccabi, Dan’s generation had fewer ties to Zionist associations. Instead, like many of his peers, he was fascinated by American music broadcast by the radio station at the local US military base, through which he also began learning English.
Immediately after finishing high school, aged just seventeen, Dan continued his studies in Rome, moving there in 1963 to study economics at university. When the violence against the Jews of Tripoli erupted in June 1967, following the outbreak of the Six-Day War, his parents were fortunately in Italy. However, his older sister, grandmother, and aunt—who worked at the American embassy—were still in Tripoli. It was thanks to Dan’s aunt that the three women managed to find a way to safety, aided by the embassy’s contacts, who sheltered them at the military base.
After about a month, the family was reunited in Rome, where they started a new chapter of their lives. Dan made a brief return to Libya in 1968, just before the final expulsion of the Jewish and Italian minorities, which took place when Muammar Gaddafi rose to power in 1970. In Rome, Dan quickly adapted to his new life, while his father, in contrast, initially struggled to adjust, feeling disoriented by the change. Over time, Dan also became involved with the Roman Jewish community, becoming increasingly integrated into the city’s social fabric.
As for Italy, I immediately felt at home
Transcript
Dan Nunes Vais:
As for Italy, I immediately felt at home. After all, I had already decided that I wouldn’t return to Tripoli to work. So, I moved around Rome easily, I went out, I had season tickets for concerts at the Aula Magna, I traveled around, so I didn’t experience any trauma. The only difficulty was the university, because there were older people there, much older than me, so I didn’t make any friends.
Interviewer:
And how did your parents adjust?
Dan Nunes Vais:
Well, at first, my father took it hard, because in ’67 he was fifty-six years old. He had always been very active, working, creating, doing things. In Tripoli, he had 130 employees at one point, in various ventures, and suddenly finding himself with nothing to do was very depressing for him.
