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Farewell to Alexandria: Eleven Short Stories
The eleven short stories in this book take us back to an Alexandria past, the cosmopolitan city as it was experienced by the author in the years before, during, and following the Second World War. Against a backdrop of major events in Alexandria's history, from the halcyon days of the late 1930s, through the alarums of the War, to the 1952 Revolution and the dispersion of almost the entire foreign community of the city, Tzalas weaves his stories peopled with characters from his youth. These are ordinary people, people of different nationalities and faiths, but all Alexandrians, living side by side in the Great City. In describing each character with great sensitivity and perception, Tzalas succeeds not only in capturing the essence of the city itself, but in poignantly foretelling the fundamental changes and exodus that were to come. The events surrounding, among others, a German family caught in the city during the Second World War, three French monks, an old Greek musician, and a group of cultivated elderly Alexandrian gentlemen, are told with an affection often tinged with sadness. Through these characters, Tzalas tells the story of everyday lives caught up in the turbulent currents of history and the transformation of a beloved city - the end of an era.
Each of the eleven stories is accompanied by an evocative illustration by Anna Boghiguian.
Each of the eleven stories is accompanied by an evocative illustration by Anna Boghiguian.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
11 people are currently reading
148 people want to read
About the author
Harry E. Tzalas
3 books7 followersFor Greek see Χάρης Τζάλας.
Harry Tzalas was born in Alexandria, Egypt and educate in french schools. In 1956, he emigrated with his family to Brazil before settling in Greece. He is the founder and president of the Hellenic Institute for Ancient and Medieval Alexandrian Studies, based in Athens.
Harry Tzalas was born in Alexandria, Egypt and educate in french schools. In 1956, he emigrated with his family to Brazil before settling in Greece. He is the founder and president of the Hellenic Institute for Ancient and Medieval Alexandrian Studies, based in Athens.
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May 29, 2016
The Alexandrian Corniche
In 1954 Naguib stood down and his place was taken by the true leader of the revolution, Gamal Abd al-Nasser, who was to stamp his personality upon a whole era.
Alexandria was a cosmopolitan city almost from the time it was founded in 331 BCE, attracting people of many races, cultures and religions as it became first the capital of the Ptolemies whose cultural significance soon eclipsed that of Athens and the Ionian metropolises, then one of the three great cities of the Roman Empire, and though it was supplanted in importance by Cairo after the Islamic conquest, it remained a multicultural seat of Mediterranean life. On occasion the native Egyptians would riot and kill any outsiders they could lay their hands on and the various Greek, Roman, Arabic, Turkish, French or British overlords would wreak their revenge, but for the most part Alexandrians worked out a unique mode of tolerance and respect for each other's differences.(*) Alexandria's cosmopolitan way of life survived in a fascinating melting pot of cultures and peoples until the end of the Second World War and the rise of Arabic nationalism. But then the first, catastrophic war with Israel, the revolution of 1952 and the Suez Crisis in 1956 changed all that.
Farewell to Alexandria (1997) is a collection of eleven stories about Alexandrians of all sorts during the time of exodus from the city during the 1940's and '50's, written by Harry E. Tzalas, who was born in Alexandria to a family of Greek (and Italian) descent that left Egypt behind in 1956. Though one cannot say that the stories are all told artfully, they are sincere and moving in their nostalgic re-creation of the lives of very ordinary Alexandrians - Lebanese, Greek, German, Italian, Armenian, French and, of course, Egyptian - in a time of turmoil and very difficult decisions. Two of the stories capture the war years as seen through the eyes of a little boy, one in bombarded Alexandria itself and another in a small, parched village to which the family fled to escape the nightly rain of bombs. Others trace the lives of the characters back to the '30's, when Alexandrians were still living together in relative harmony. But most of the stories are set in the early '50's, when the tensions were high and Alexandria was beginning to decline in nearly every respect. Nevertheless, the seriousness of the situations described and the poignancy of some of the events do not exclude moments of humor and gentle irony in this engaging collection of interrelated tales.
Farewell to Alexandria may not be great literature, but I'd say this time life has trumped art.
(*) I think it is very interesting to get glimpses of the changes in this modus vivendi over time from the perspective of the various peoples involved, so Farewell to Alexandria is neither the first nor the last book set in Alexandria to capture my attention. (Most recently, Edwar al-Kharrat's City of Saffron and Stratis Tsirkas' Drifting Cities entertained and informed me along these lines.) By the way, Tzalas flatly asserts that he could not recognize the Alexandria described in Lawrence Durrell's The Alexandria Quartet.
May 24, 2014
http://www.mytwostotinki.com/?p=198
Utopia, resurrected
Alexandria, the second biggest Egyptian city, has been for most of its history a truly cosmopolitan Mediterranean city. From the time of its foundation by Alexander the Great until the Suez crisis Alexandria housed not only a big Greek community, but also people from all possible different ethnic, national and religious background. When you would walk on the streets of Alexandria one hundred years ago, you would probably hear people on the streets talking to each other in about a dozen different languages.
Alexandria was not paradise, but it was a place where during most of its history, its inhabitants - no matter what their origin was - had learned to get along with each other. (Those who are interested in the history of Alexandria and the other multi-ethnic cities of the Mediterranean Beirut, Smyrna and Saloniki, I would like to recommend a book by the British historian Philip Mansel: Levant: Splendour and Catastrophe on the Mediterranean, London 2010)
It is therefore easy to understand that Alexandria was and still is a place that inspired the imagination of many writers. The Greek poet Constantin Cavafy spent most of his rather uneventful life in this city and created his poetry here. E.M. Forster devoted two of his works to the city (Alexandria: A History and a Guide and Pharos and Pharillon). His friend Lawrence Durrell used Alexandria as a backdrop of his Alexandria Quartet, a series of four novels. Also several Egyptian (Arabic) authors have made Alexandria the location of some of their most important works, e.g. Naguib Mahfouz' novel Miramar.
And there is of course a rich autobiographic literature and memoirs of people who have lived in Alexandria, such as the beautiful Out of Egypt, by Andre Aciman, or George Moustaki's Les Filles de la mémoire (Moustaki's father owned an antiquarian bookstore in Alexandria).
The collection of short stories Farewell to Alexandria, by Harry E. Tzalas fits into this context. Tzalas, born and educated in Alexandria, emigrated to Brazil in 1956 before settling in Greece where he became the founder and president of the Hellenic Institute for Ancient and Medieval Alexandrian Studies in Athens, a position that brought him frequently back to the city of his youth.
The eleven short stories, written between the late 1970s and the early 1990s, explore the Alexandria of the late 1930s, through WWII, the 1952 revolution and the Suez crisis that ended with the almost complete dispersal of the non-Arabic population of Alexandria.
The characters in Tzala's stories are taken mainly from his childhood and youth. They come from different social milieus and different religions and are described with great warmth, sensitivity and perception.
There is for example Antoun, a poor Lebanese shoemaker, a simple but good man. One day, a relative of Antoun dies in Beirut, and the hero of the story inherits a modest amount of money. Now the quiet life of work and weekend fishing excursions of Antoun comes to a halt for some time. Should he start his own business now that he has the opportunity and the funds to do so? Should he invest the money somewhere else? What to do with this sudden modest wealth? Antoun doesn't sleep well for a while until he comes to the probably wise decision to spend the money for the fulfillment of a long existing secret wish: he always wanted a watch! Once he makes up his mind, he goes ahead without further hesitation - he buys watches for all family members and a little radio. And leads his life from that moment on just as if nothing has happened. Not a very exciting or wealthy life, but probably a quite happy one. At least he rose to the status of a watch owner, and that's probably as far as the ambition of Antoun would lead him. The story ends with a short afterword:
The years passed. I left Alexandria. Osta Antoun died. I got the news when I met an old acquaintance who used to go fishing with us on Sundays. "Antoun passed on," he said. "May God have mercy on his soul. He was a good man. It was his heart, you know. He was buried holding his watch tightly in his hands."
Many of the characters in Tzalas' stories are waiting for something to happen, like the Armenian family in The little Armenian girl that is waiting for the ship to bring them home. But frequently, the expected is not happening, or when it comes something important has changed in the meantime. Life is taking its own course and we are usually not the masters of our destinies.
Some of the stories are particularly moving because they show the fate of families that are stranded in a hostile surrounding during WWII. The front line was not very far away from Alexandria, and the authorities (and some neighbors) were not particularly friendly to the number of Italian or German families that resided in Alexandria. That some of them showed open support and sympathy with the enemy didn't exactly help to make their lives easier. Frau Grete and Sidi Bishr, October 1942 deal with this aspect, but the stories are never dry history lessons. They always put the spot light on some very interesting and credible characters.
Tzalas' book breathes a certain melancholy. Because it describes a lost Utopia. But it is thanks to stories like the one's that Tzalas is telling us, that this Utopia is kept alive at least in our memories:
Alexandria is resurrected for all those who called her Utopia, who have loved her and lost her; the Alexandria of children and poets. (from: Alexandria ad Aegyptum)
The book is illustrated by Anna Boghiguian, an Armenian-Egyptian artist. The illustrations are very evocative and add to the charm of this beautiful collection of stories.
Utopia, resurrected
Alexandria, the second biggest Egyptian city, has been for most of its history a truly cosmopolitan Mediterranean city. From the time of its foundation by Alexander the Great until the Suez crisis Alexandria housed not only a big Greek community, but also people from all possible different ethnic, national and religious background. When you would walk on the streets of Alexandria one hundred years ago, you would probably hear people on the streets talking to each other in about a dozen different languages.
Alexandria was not paradise, but it was a place where during most of its history, its inhabitants - no matter what their origin was - had learned to get along with each other. (Those who are interested in the history of Alexandria and the other multi-ethnic cities of the Mediterranean Beirut, Smyrna and Saloniki, I would like to recommend a book by the British historian Philip Mansel: Levant: Splendour and Catastrophe on the Mediterranean, London 2010)
It is therefore easy to understand that Alexandria was and still is a place that inspired the imagination of many writers. The Greek poet Constantin Cavafy spent most of his rather uneventful life in this city and created his poetry here. E.M. Forster devoted two of his works to the city (Alexandria: A History and a Guide and Pharos and Pharillon). His friend Lawrence Durrell used Alexandria as a backdrop of his Alexandria Quartet, a series of four novels. Also several Egyptian (Arabic) authors have made Alexandria the location of some of their most important works, e.g. Naguib Mahfouz' novel Miramar.
And there is of course a rich autobiographic literature and memoirs of people who have lived in Alexandria, such as the beautiful Out of Egypt, by Andre Aciman, or George Moustaki's Les Filles de la mémoire (Moustaki's father owned an antiquarian bookstore in Alexandria).
The collection of short stories Farewell to Alexandria, by Harry E. Tzalas fits into this context. Tzalas, born and educated in Alexandria, emigrated to Brazil in 1956 before settling in Greece where he became the founder and president of the Hellenic Institute for Ancient and Medieval Alexandrian Studies in Athens, a position that brought him frequently back to the city of his youth.
The eleven short stories, written between the late 1970s and the early 1990s, explore the Alexandria of the late 1930s, through WWII, the 1952 revolution and the Suez crisis that ended with the almost complete dispersal of the non-Arabic population of Alexandria.
The characters in Tzala's stories are taken mainly from his childhood and youth. They come from different social milieus and different religions and are described with great warmth, sensitivity and perception.
There is for example Antoun, a poor Lebanese shoemaker, a simple but good man. One day, a relative of Antoun dies in Beirut, and the hero of the story inherits a modest amount of money. Now the quiet life of work and weekend fishing excursions of Antoun comes to a halt for some time. Should he start his own business now that he has the opportunity and the funds to do so? Should he invest the money somewhere else? What to do with this sudden modest wealth? Antoun doesn't sleep well for a while until he comes to the probably wise decision to spend the money for the fulfillment of a long existing secret wish: he always wanted a watch! Once he makes up his mind, he goes ahead without further hesitation - he buys watches for all family members and a little radio. And leads his life from that moment on just as if nothing has happened. Not a very exciting or wealthy life, but probably a quite happy one. At least he rose to the status of a watch owner, and that's probably as far as the ambition of Antoun would lead him. The story ends with a short afterword:
The years passed. I left Alexandria. Osta Antoun died. I got the news when I met an old acquaintance who used to go fishing with us on Sundays. "Antoun passed on," he said. "May God have mercy on his soul. He was a good man. It was his heart, you know. He was buried holding his watch tightly in his hands."
Many of the characters in Tzalas' stories are waiting for something to happen, like the Armenian family in The little Armenian girl that is waiting for the ship to bring them home. But frequently, the expected is not happening, or when it comes something important has changed in the meantime. Life is taking its own course and we are usually not the masters of our destinies.
Some of the stories are particularly moving because they show the fate of families that are stranded in a hostile surrounding during WWII. The front line was not very far away from Alexandria, and the authorities (and some neighbors) were not particularly friendly to the number of Italian or German families that resided in Alexandria. That some of them showed open support and sympathy with the enemy didn't exactly help to make their lives easier. Frau Grete and Sidi Bishr, October 1942 deal with this aspect, but the stories are never dry history lessons. They always put the spot light on some very interesting and credible characters.
Tzalas' book breathes a certain melancholy. Because it describes a lost Utopia. But it is thanks to stories like the one's that Tzalas is telling us, that this Utopia is kept alive at least in our memories:
Alexandria is resurrected for all those who called her Utopia, who have loved her and lost her; the Alexandria of children and poets. (from: Alexandria ad Aegyptum)
The book is illustrated by Anna Boghiguian, an Armenian-Egyptian artist. The illustrations are very evocative and add to the charm of this beautiful collection of stories.
September 11, 2014
A book i picked by mere chance from a shelf in the Library. A beautiful thread of stories from the memories of someone who lived and loved Alexandria, about people who lived and loved Alexandria.
Simple, day to day stories that trigger your nostalgia to days that you haven't even lived, but wish you had.
Simple, day to day stories that trigger your nostalgia to days that you haven't even lived, but wish you had.
June 5, 2018
a few good lines:
"So many dreams long betrayed, so many desires never fulfilled, so many smothered hopes. link after link in a long chain, generation after generation, raked up passions from the depths of time." meeting the bawwab thirty years later after wanting to join the army and fight the jews..
"Memory- what a terrible thing memory is. A blessing or a curse? A blessing and a curse."
"You will find no new lands, you will find no other seas.
The city will follow you. You will roam the same streets.
And you will grow old in the same neighborhoods;
And you will grow gray in these same houses
You will always come back to this city. For another land- do not hope-
There is no ship for you, there is no road.
As you have ruined your life here
in this tiny corner, so you have ruined it the world over."
"So many dreams long betrayed, so many desires never fulfilled, so many smothered hopes. link after link in a long chain, generation after generation, raked up passions from the depths of time." meeting the bawwab thirty years later after wanting to join the army and fight the jews..
"Memory- what a terrible thing memory is. A blessing or a curse? A blessing and a curse."
"You will find no new lands, you will find no other seas.
The city will follow you. You will roam the same streets.
And you will grow old in the same neighborhoods;
And you will grow gray in these same houses
You will always come back to this city. For another land- do not hope-
There is no ship for you, there is no road.
As you have ruined your life here
in this tiny corner, so you have ruined it the world over."
July 14, 2025
"كان راويًا جيدًا ورغم أنه ربما كان مُسهِبًا إلى حد الإملال بعض الشيء، إذ كان يخوض في كثير من التفاصيل، فلم يدركه التعب قط، وقد استمتع بالحديث عن الماضي وكان دوما يسعد بأن لديه مستمعًا."
استخدم هاري تزالاس هذه الكلمات لوصف الحاج أحمد بائع الكتب، وأجدها تعبر بدقة عن شعوري في أثناء قراءة بعض القصص، رغم أنني سأختار ذلك الإسهاب على الاختصار.
يضم الكتاب قصص قصيرة متباينة -لكنها جميعا رقيقة وشجينة- عن أناس من بلاد وجنسيات متعددة سكنوا الإسكندرية يوما. استمتعت كثيرا بقراءة الكتاب، وأحببت الإسكندرية كما رآها تزالاس، لكن كتابه "سبعة أيام في فندق سيسل" هو الأقرب إلى قلبي.
قصة "أسطى أنطون" التي يبدأ بها الكتاب من أجمل قصصه في رأيي، وقصة "عم أحمد" من أكثر ما أحزنني.
استخدم هاري تزالاس هذه الكلمات لوصف الحاج أحمد بائع الكتب، وأجدها تعبر بدقة عن شعوري في أثناء قراءة بعض القصص، رغم أنني سأختار ذلك الإسهاب على الاختصار.
يضم الكتاب قصص قصيرة متباينة -لكنها جميعا رقيقة وشجينة- عن أناس من بلاد وجنسيات متعددة سكنوا الإسكندرية يوما. استمتعت كثيرا بقراءة الكتاب، وأحببت الإسكندرية كما رآها تزالاس، لكن كتابه "سبعة أيام في فندق سيسل" هو الأقرب إلى قلبي.
قصة "أسطى أنطون" التي يبدأ بها الكتاب من أجمل قصصه في رأيي، وقصة "عم أحمد" من أكثر ما أحزنني.
March 12, 2022
I LOVED the stories. How every one of them demonstrated the beauty of alexandria in a different way. Very spectacular writing style and descriptions. One thing is that I hoped some stories were longer so that we can really visualise the situations.
May 5, 2015
Picked up at an Alexandria book fair, this gem gave me a new appreciation for the city I find myself living in. A beautifully designed book with unusual, abstract illustrations and a fold-out map of the old city.
Each of the short stories focuses on a member of the various national and religious communities living in pre-revolutionary Alexandria, imaginative or perhaps accurate versions of people the author himself knew as a young Greek man growing up there.
Most are uplifting yet all have a sense of sadness and loss, magnified by the reader's knowledge that the unique atmosphere we are reading about is in its last years.
Yet Alexandria still reminds the visitor of its past. Some Greek and Italian cafes still remain, the classic architecture is damaged but standing, and it seems as if some part of the spirit of that time still lives in the people of that city.
All Egyptians now, yes, but not all Egyptians are like Alexandrians!
Each of the short stories focuses on a member of the various national and religious communities living in pre-revolutionary Alexandria, imaginative or perhaps accurate versions of people the author himself knew as a young Greek man growing up there.
Most are uplifting yet all have a sense of sadness and loss, magnified by the reader's knowledge that the unique atmosphere we are reading about is in its last years.
Yet Alexandria still reminds the visitor of its past. Some Greek and Italian cafes still remain, the classic architecture is damaged but standing, and it seems as if some part of the spirit of that time still lives in the people of that city.
All Egyptians now, yes, but not all Egyptians are like Alexandrians!
Read
April 30, 2013This book is written with the flavor of memories...After u read it,u ll feel powerfully nostalgic for an unidentified thing,a once-in-a-life trip to the one-time cosmopolitan Alexandria. I wont deny that it left a slight trace of sadness in me.It could be because I know that "the Great City"will never be great once more!!Why does history repeat itself only foolishly?..Has the moment come to say adieu,to say farewell to Alexandria,once and for all?..No,at least in my eyes,"the city of bleeding,insanity,and martyrdom"will never lose its splendor,its glory......Where are time machines when we need them most?..I am nt greedy,all I m asking for is a 10-minute walk in my admirable city...A confession:I dont like Egypt as much I like Alexandria...Alexi,I love thee still!!
January 16, 2013
This takes you back to the days of cosmopolitan Alexandria, it colors your memory with vivid yet lively pictures from the past of the old city. Tzalas perfectly describes old Alexandria's glamour for someone who hadn't lived in this era, just like me. It takes you to the warmth of the people's kindness, the coldness of the war, the diversity of nationalities, the beauty of homes, the renaissance of entertainment and more. You will feel as if you've hopped into a time machine and traveled to the mystical past of the old city. I definitely recommend that you read it, whether you live in Alexandria now or if you used to reside there.
March 8, 2015
Beautiful. A word I rarely use to describe a book, but this one truly is.
I stumbled upon it and decided to buy it because I was amazed by its cover, I had no idea the interior was just as amazing.
"...So many dreams long betrayed, so many desires never fulfilled, so many smothered hopes.Link after link in a long chain, generation after generation, raked up passions from the depth of time."
I stumbled upon it and decided to buy it because I was amazed by its cover, I had no idea the interior was just as amazing.
"...So many dreams long betrayed, so many desires never fulfilled, so many smothered hopes.Link after link in a long chain, generation after generation, raked up passions from the depth of time."
May 12, 2013
loved it, became one of my favorites.
Apart from the fact that it's about my lovely city and how life has been like during the middle of the past century, I loved the style. Each story of this semi-dairy is a well-written piece, so engaging. I really did enjoy reading this. 5 stars and a heart ..
Apart from the fact that it's about my lovely city and how life has been like during the middle of the past century, I loved the style. Each story of this semi-dairy is a well-written piece, so engaging. I really did enjoy reading this. 5 stars and a heart ..
March 20, 2025
I picked out this title at my favorite local used bookstore for its artful cover. The chapters tell eleven different stories from different perspectives and time periods, all as colorfully woven together as the bright cover that piqued my interest to begin with. All of the stories center around the cosmopolitan city of Alexandria in the early to mid 20th century, casting its brilliance against the turmoil of two world wars and their effects. This diverse, colorful 'utopia' as described in the book is followed by the 'farewell' many Europeans and others gave the city as they started to leave amidst rising conflict over the Suez Canal and increased nationalism and tension during the mid 20th century. But these grand, global events are merely the backdrop for the humanist stories within the collection; stories about school, the local bookshop owner, learning from your coworkers, listening to tales from older generations, and more. With a whole range of characters throughout these different time periods, all with their own histories and generational background, a broader story of the city of Alexandria itself emerges. The impressionistic image on the cover is fitting for such an overarching narrative, since the specifics are second to the rich emotions and nostalgia the author has for the city and the time that has passed by. Even without a strong interest in the specific history or region, anyone could enjoy the charming stories, characters, and drawings for each tale.
December 30, 2019
"You will find no new lands, you will find no other seas
The city will follow you. You will roam the same streets.
And you will grow old in the same neighborhoods;
And you will grow gray in the same houses.
You will always come back to this city. For another land —do not hope—
There is no ship for you, there is no road.
As you have ruined your life here
In this tiny corner, so you have ruined it the world over."
The city will follow you. You will roam the same streets.
And you will grow old in the same neighborhoods;
And you will grow gray in the same houses.
You will always come back to this city. For another land —do not hope—
There is no ship for you, there is no road.
As you have ruined your life here
In this tiny corner, so you have ruined it the world over."
December 29, 2019
A different perspective on cosmopolitan Alexandria from a contemporary and non native view.
March 15, 2016
A quite touching book about the departure of inhabitants(the foreign communities) of Egypt's beautiful city, Alexandria to their countries because of the changes at that time. The sad thing is none of these people considered Alexandria anything other than their "home". The author is one of the inhabitants who left the city and he says that he never imagined himself anywhere else except as a "tourist". The eleven short stories in the book are about the history of the city, not of course the history you find in history books; it is actually the hidden history of the city found only in the memory of the very common people and inside the streets of the city. It is about people who lived, died or even left unnoticed but they will never be sent to oblivion because those people will always remain in the memory of the city(where they walked and talked and lived).
September 12, 2009
collection of nice short stories, written in alexandria background..a present from a good friend of mine who is currently studying in alex ^___^ thanks qamarul.
April 24, 2017
"Memory- what a terrible thing memory is. A blessing or a curse? A blessing and a curse."
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