The French Mandate Through the Lens of Luigi Stironi

Text by Norbert Schiller
Photography by Luigi Stironi, Norbert Schiller Collection

Introduction:
Just over a century has passed since the Great Syrian Revolt and the 1925 bombing of Damascus, when French forces laid siege to the city, killing between one and two thousand people, most of them civilians. Entire neighborhoods—particularly in the old quarters—were reduced to rubble, their narrow streets and centuries-old homes unable to withstand sustained artillery and aerial bombardment.

The attack, which lasted two days, was intended to crush the Arab uprising and reassert French control. Instead, it left a deep scar on the city’s collective memory. For many Damascenes, it marked not only a moment of destruction, but a turning point in the struggle against colonial rule—one that would resonate long after the guns fell silent.

Most of the photographs that I have seen taken right after the siege were made by Luigi Stironi, an Italian photographer living in Damascus and working closely with the French authorities.

Over the years, I have amassed a significant collection of Luigi Stironi’s work, preserved primarily in postcard form rather than as high-quality original prints. While I am certain that finer examples of his photography still exist, I have yet to encounter them. Nevertheless, because of the extraordinary historical value of these images, the following story and exhibition are dedicated to Stironi’s work while working under the French in greater Syria.

All of the images are in the 14 x 9 cm format, which was the standard postcard size until the mid-20th century. Most of the postcards bear Luigi Stironi’s copyright stamp on the reverse, though not all of them do.

Besides the main exhibition, I have also included a link to a separate exhibition featuring Stironi’s photographs of Palmyra.