Finding Foundlings: A Student’s Journey into the 'Archives of the Innocent'

Saketh Mandayam

While studying at ISI Florence last semester, I had the incredible opportunity to work with Professor Gaston Basile in the ISI Scholars program. Part of the reason I had chosen ISI Florence for study abroad was to develop my undergraduate research project. I am focusing on children in the early years of the Ospedale degli Innocenti in Florence, the first modern orphanage founded in Europe. More specifically, I am interested in children of enslaved descent, whether they were connected to the Black Sea slave trade or the emerging Portuguese trade network. Studying abroad in Florence gave me the perfect chance to work directly with the Archivio dell’Ospedale degli Innocenti di Firenze and consult original documents tied to my research.

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