Louis Sabunji Explained

Birth Name:John Louis Sabunji
Birth Date:1838
Birth Place:Diyarbakır, Ottoman Empire
Death Place:Los Angeles, United States
Occupation:Catholic priest
Journalist
Years Active:1860s–1920s
Known For:founder of Al Nahla

Louis Sabunji (1838–1931) was a Catholic priest and political figure who founded and edited various publications, including Al Nahla (Arabic: The Bee). He was also one of the earliest photographers in Beirut.

Early life and education

Sabunji was born in Diyarbakır in 1838.[1] His family were Syriac Catholic. He had two brothers, Jurji and Daoud.[2]

Sabunji received education at the seminary in the Syriac Catholic Church in Mount Lebanon in 1850.[2] Then he attended the College of Pontifical Propaganda in Rome between 1853 and 1861 and received a PhD in theology.[1] [2] There he also learned photography.[2]

Career

Following his graduation Sabunji became an ordained priest and was among the first Turkish and Latin instructors of the newly established Syrian Protestant College.[2] He established and headed a school named Al Madrasa Al Siriyaniyya (Arabic: the Syriac School) in 1864.[2] Then he began to work as a priest in Beirut where he launched a weekly journal entitled Al Nahla in 1870.[1] [3] In August 1871 Sabunji suspended his journalistic activity in Beirut due to his clash with Butrus Al Bustani, a Christian journalist, and traveled various countries until his return to Beirut in 1864.[1] Sabunji permanently left Beirut and settled in London in 1876 due to his anti-Ottoman political stance.[1]

In London Sabunji worked as the political editor of a publication entitled Mirat Al Ahwal which was launched by Rizk Allah Hassun on 19 October 1876.[1] Sabunji continued to publish Al Nahla in London from 1877.[3] He founded another weekly in London entitled Al Khalifa.[1] Sabunji became the professor of the Arabic language at the Imperial Institute in London in the late 1880s.[3]

Work

Sabunji was the author of several unpublished manuscripts, including Diwan and his diary Yıldız Sarayında bir Papaz (Turkish: A Priest in Yıldız Palace).[2]

Later years and death

Sabunji settled in Egypt during World War I and then went to the United States where he lived in poverty.[2] In 1931, he was murdered by burglars in Los Angeles at age 93.[2]

Notes and References

  1. L. Zolondek. Sabunji in England 1876-91: His Role in Arabic Journalism. Middle Eastern Studies. January 1978. 14. 1 . 102-115. 10.1080/00263207808700368.
  2. Stephen Sheehi. The Life and Times of Louis Saboungi. A Nomadological Study of Ottoman Arab Photography. Ibraaz. 28 May 2015. 21 May 2022.
  3. Rogier Visser. 9789491164200. Identities in early Arabic journalism: The case of Louis Ṣābūnjī. 11245/1.406149. 5. University of Amsterdam. PhD. 2014.