Acknowledgements
This collective volume represents an important part of the results of the ERC STG 2016 project entitled “Seafaring Lives in Transition, Mediterranean Maritime Labour and Shipping, 1850s–1920s (SeaLiT)”, hosted by the Institute for Mediterranean Studies/FORTH and in partnership with the University of Barcelona, the University of Genoa, and the Centre of Cultural Informatics of the Institute for Computer Sciences/FORTH. The project with Apostolos Delis of the Centre for Maritime History of the IMS/FORTH as Principal Investigator, involved scholars and researchers of various ranks, professors, researchers, post-doc researchers, PhD students, and MA and BA students from Greece, Italy, Spain, France, and Ukraine. The collaboration of the Principal Investigator with the heads of the individual groups, Prof. Jordi Ibarz of the University of Barcelona, Prof. Luca Lo Basso of the University of Genoa, and Dr. Martin Doerr and Dr. Pavlos Fafalios of the Centre of Cultural Informatics, produced fruitful results, which, among other their activities, also appear in the chapters of this book. Furthermore, Dr. Enric Garcia Domingo, current Director of the Maritime Museum of Barcelona, was also instrumental in the hosting of the Second Workshop of the SeaLiT project in June 2018.
For the completion of this book a number of research assistants, PhD, MA, and BA students, have worked on the insertion and the processing of data from the various types of sources in the databases, from 2017 up to now. At the IMS/FORTH centre, Thomas Kalesios, a PhD student of the University of Crete, has greatly contributed to the very demanding task of the insertion and processing of the data from ship logbooks onto a specially-built database and a virtual map created by the CCI/ICS/FORTH under the assistance of Kostas Petrakis. Furthermore, in the same group of IMS/FORTH assistants, the BA, MA, and PhD students of the University of Crete, Nikos Kastrinakis, Aspasia Chalkiadaki, Mikaela Stavrakaki, Kostas Fradellos, and Thanos Aggelopoulos have worked thoroughly on the insertion and processing of the data from different types of archives, like demographic sources (censuses, etc), seafarer’s registries, crew lists, payrolls and accounting books, and papers of shipping companies. In the research assistant group of the University of Genoa, the BA and MA students Beatrice Corradi, Benedetta Risso, Carolina Gaggero, Francesco Ferrando, Giacomo Calcagno, Massimo Ponasso, Maki Asai, and Maurizio Antinori, have also worked on the insertion of data from Ligurian crew lists and maritime workers registers. In the University of Barcelona group, the PhD student Daniel Muntané and Clàudia Mateo have worked on a variety of sources, from sailors’ registers and crew lists, to logbooks and ship registries. Miguel Pérez de Perceval, Professor at the University of Murcia, was an invaluable help for the work with the sources of the Naval Archive of Cartagena, and also Arturo Pérez, who was in charge of the digitization of the muster rolls in said archive. Rosa Busquets, librarian at the Museu Marítim de Barcelona, gave the Barcelona team a helping hand as well.
Research across the various archives and libraries was largely facilitated by the assistance of people either in the capacity of personnel or as experts in the sought sources. First, the Director Eirini Dambasi and the personnel of the Kaireios Library of Andros, provided all available means for the digitization of its enormous maritime archives. There is also Lilia Biloousova, former Deputy Director of the State Archive of the Odessa Region, in Odessa, and Ludmila Bondarenko, Director of the Odessa Maritime Museum, who both provided great support for the research of Dr. Anna Sydorenko. Furthermore, Dr. Matteo Barbano was helped in particular by the personnel of the Civico Museo del Mare of Trieste, and especially by Claudio Raini, and also by Andrea Bonetta and Fabio Gallo of the shipping company Italia Marittima (formerly Lloyd Triestino). In addition, marine engineer and maritime historian Maurizio Eliseo gave us crucial support and help by locating useful archival material and by providing accessing to his private archive in Trieste. Association Joseph Edouard Vence, the Musée Ciotaden, and the Municipal Archives of La Ciotat provided valuable assistance in locating very useful archival material for the research of Kalliopi Vasilaki. Minas Antypas, a PhD student at the University of Crete, was very kind in taking the initiative to digitize and send us the invaluable archives of a nineteenth century shipping firm in Hydra, such as logbooks and account books from a private collection. We must also thank the staff of the General Archive of the Navy of the Viso del Marqués, and especially those of the Naval Archive of Cartagena for their help in the different research campaigns that the Barcelona team carried out in these institutions. José Fernando Escalas Porcel, the Maritime Authority Captain at Palma de Mallorca offered his generous collaboration and free access to the sources kept under his custody. Last, but not least, was the work of the Director of the IMS/FORTH, Prof. Gelina Harlaftis, who contributed to the improvement of many chapters in the present book, and provided continuous support to the activities and to the members of the project over all these years.