© Roger Anthoine. (Collection Musée de la Photographie)
The Italian community has formed an essential part of Wallonia since the Italo-Belgian Coal Agreement of June 23, 1946. This agreement, concluded to address the acute labor shortage in the Belgian mines after the Second World War, marked the starting point of Italian immigration to Belgium. Tens of thousands of Italian men left their country in the hope of a better future and came to work in the coal mines.
They arrived in large numbers and became witnesses to both the flourishing and the decline of a heavy industry. They were victims of particularly grueling labor and displacement, but at the same time brought a rich culture with them. Between 1954 and 1957, Roger Anthoine took numerous photographs of these Italian workers and their families. In his images, we see the arrivals at Charleroi station, the emotional reunions on the platforms, the waiting and administrative procedures at the consulate, and finally, the first days of work in the mines.
These fragments of daily life reflect the reality of thousands of Italian workers who were forced to leave their country due to economic circumstances. Later, they were reunited with their families, gradually integrated into Belgium, and at the same time remained true to their origins. The photographs also show the harshness of underground work and expose the global capitalist system, which has little regard for the individual. At the same time, they tell a story of human resilience and of the continuous capacity to move forward and adapt.
Roger Anthoine was born in Mont-sur-Marchienne on March 6, 1925. At the end of the Second World War, he joined the American armed forces. Afterwards, he worked as an electromechanical draftsman, but he soon began photographing as well and produced numerous reportages as an independent photographer. He became a correspondent for Associated Press, for National Geographic Magazine and for various newspapers. He photographed primarily in the Charleroi region, where he focused on the steel industry, coal mines, and their societal impact. Later, he settled in Geneva, where he was responsible for public relations at CERN (European Council for Nuclear Research) for thirty years. Roger Anthoine passed away on October 26, 2015.
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The Musée de la Photographie in Charleroi is one of the largest and most important museums for photography in Europe.
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