In commemoration of World Refugee Day, celebrated globally on 20th June, The National Archives of Malta dug up an interesting piece of Maltese history…

As it turns out, foreigners were turning to the Maltese islands for help as early as 1922 – and this historic photo is proof of just that.

“Today is World Refugee Day. We recall baker John Cilia, his wife Kirioki, and their children Liberata, Marcos, Mary, and Francis,” the National Archives of Malta wrote on social media.

“100 years ago, on 18th September 1922, they arrived in Malta from Smyrna as refugees, together with many others. John, like many of the other refugees, was of Maltese ancestry,” it continued.

Smyrna was ruled over by Greece between 1919 and 1922, until it was taken over by Turkey at the end of the Greco-Turkish War. Shortly after this, a fire broke out in the Greek and Armenian quarters of Smyrna – an event known as the Great Fire of Smyrna – claiming tens of thousands of lives.

These factors most probably contributed to the Cilias’ decision to come to Malta.

Smyrna is nowadays a part of Turkey and known as İzmir.

“Two years [after 1922], the [Cilia] family settled in Greece. In 1932 they were facing hardships and asked for assistance from Malta. Their request was denied,” The National Archives of Malta concluded.

İzmir has come a long way since its rocky past, nowadays being known as the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara, and the second largest urban agglomeration on the Aegean Sea after Athens.

The National Archives of Malta / Facebook