journal of jesuit studies 2 (2015) 248-264
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The Oriental Library and the Catholic Press at Saint-Joseph University in Beirut
Rafael Herzstein The Open University of Israel [email protected]
Abstract
This article traces the origins of the Université Saint-Joseph in Beirut, the creation of the Oriental Library, and the beginnings of the Catholic press in Syria. The focus of this article is the importance of the Bibliothèque Orientale: its financing, its development, its publications, and its cultural significance throughout the entire Middle East. I examine the opening of the Oriental Faculty, its program of study, and its teaching staff, and describe the inauguration of the main journal of the faculty, Mélanges de la Faculté Orientale. The article concludes with a discussion of the creation of the Catholic press, along with its staff and various publications in Arabic and French, with attention to the influential periodicals al-Bashir and al-Mashriq.
Keywords
Saint-Joseph University – Beirut – Oriental Faculty and Library – Syrian Catholic press – Henri Jalabert – Louis Cheikho, S.J. – Ghazīr Seminary and College – Mélanges de la Faculté Orientale – al-Bashir – al-Mashriq
The origins of the Université Saint-Joseph (usj) in Beirut date back to the Collège- Séminaire de Ghazīr, founded by the Society of Jesus in 1843. That institution,
* Translated by Larissa Pires, Georgia Southern University, and edited by the journal's editors.. ** This article discusses the region “Syria,” a name used broadly in accordance with the termi- nology that prevailed in the period under study, as a geographical entity that includes Syria and Lebanon today. For this period, the sources used “Syria” for the region as a whole, while the word “Lebanon” appears only at the end of the Ottoman period. “Oriental” is used here
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The Establishment of the Oriental Faculty
The college opened for teaching in November 1902, under the leadership of the father superior of the mission. His official title of chancellor was same as that of the head of the university’s Faculty of Medicine. A vice-chancellor, chosen from among the teaching faculty, served as assistant to the chancellor in the supervision of daily administrative tasks and the normal course of operations. That position was first given to Louis Cheikho, S.J. (1859–1927), a veteran of Arab studies at the university.2
in the more or less neutral meaning of “Middle Eastern” (and the college still retains that designation in its title). Hence its use does not mean to imply any particularly European interpretation of Levantine history or to revive a concept of “eastern” as monolithic. 1 For further information on the reasons for the foundation of the Université Saint-Joseph, see Rafael Herzstein, Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth, Fondation et fonctionnement de 1875 à 1914 (Brussels: Le Cri Edition, 2008); Herzstein, “Une réconciliation entre Paris et la Compagnie de Jésus au Levant (1875–1914): Faux-fuyant ou nécessité ponctuelle?” Mémoire Spiritaine: Histoire, mission, spiritualité 22 (2005): 99–113; Herzstein, “La France et le retour des jésuites au Levant au sein de la communauté maronite: Un nouveau modèle de compromis pédagogique,” Middle East Review of International Affairs 2, no. 1 (2007): 95–105; Herzstein, “The Foundation of the Saint-Joseph University of Beirut: The Teaching of the Maronites by the Second Jesuit Mission in the Levant,” Middle Eastern Studies 43, no. 5 (2007): 749–59; Herzstein, “Saint-Joseph University of Beirut: An Enclave of the French-Speaking Communities in the Levant, 1875–1914,” Itinerario: International Journal on the History of European Expansion and Global Interaction 32 (2008): 67–82; Herzstein, “Les pères jésuites et les Maronites du Mont Liban: l’Université Saint- Joseph de Beyrouth,” Histoire et Missions Chrétiennes 9 (2009): 149–75. 2 Louis Cheikho or Shaykhū [born Theodore Rizqallah] (1859–1927) was known as “The Sultan of the Arabic language.” Cheikho was a Chaldean Catholic born in Mardin (Kurdistan, Turkey). He enrolled in the Ghazīr Seminary in 1867 at the age of eight, and at about fifteen (in 1874) he entered the Society of Jesus. As a scholar in Beirut from 1877 to 1888, he published the first volume of Majâni al-adab fi hadaiq al-ʾArab [Harvests of Literature in the Gardens of the Arabs, or Literary Fruits from Arab Gardens] (Beirut: Matbaʾat al-Aba al-Yasuʾiyin, 1882– 1884) which radically transformed the teaching of the Arabic language. He stayed in Europe
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From the beginning of its work in 1902, the Oriental Faculty successfully attracted a diverse and supportive public, evidence that the institution filled a need and was responding to expressed wishes. Some public courses, such as the history and geography of the Middle East, along with an upper-level course in Arabic literature, were especially popular with an audience from the city of Beirut (e.g., European residents, high consuls, and seminarians), as well as among the more traditional students of the Université Saint-Joseph.3 The curriculum entailed the study, over three years, of classical Semitic languages (Arabic, Hebrew, and Syriac), Coptic, and Ethiopic, along with local history and geogra- phy and Oriental archaeology. The in-depth course on Arabic was very well devel- oped. A special degree called “Doctor of the Oriental Faculty” was created for those candidates who, after obtaining their primary degree, successfully wrote and defended an original dissertation. Excursions and research trips, guided by a professor, were organized for students who sought further experience in the aca- demic study of Oriental archaeology, epigraphy, and topography.4 One year after the Oriental Faculty’s opening, Professor George Kampffmeyer (1864–1936), a German orientalist from the University of Marburg, praised the new “creation of the fathers of Beirut, which Oriental studies richly deserved.” In his opinion, the focus on Arabic within the college’s program should
be endorsed without any reservations. Those familiar with the works of Jesuits in the field of Orientalism know how they combine the in-depth study of Arabic literature with the most extensive training known to the West […]. What better opportunity—and under what better qualified
from 1889 to 1894, and became a priest in 1891. He later returned to Beirut and remained there until his death. His main desires were to further develop Arab studies and to improve the relationship between Muslims and Christians in the East. The true founder of the Oriental Library, he discovered a large number of original works and manuscripts dating from the pre- Islamic period. He also introduced Orientalists to the Nahda, the Arab Renaissance of the nineteenth century, which included the work of Christians from Lebanon and Egypt. For more information on the life of Cheikho, see Henry Jalabert, Jésuites au Proche-Orient. Notices biographique (Beirut: Dar el-Machreq-Librairie orientale, 1987), 1:29; Henri Lammens, “Le Pere Louis Cheikho,” Lettres de Fourviere, 3rd series, 2 (1929): 251–83. John W. Padberg describes Lettres de Fourviere as “a periodical ‘for private circulation only,’ dealing with the history, spirituality, theology, and current problems of the French Jesuits,” in Colleges in Controversy: The Jesuit Schools in France from Revival to Suppression, 1815–1880 (Cambridge, ma: Harvard University Press, 1969), 293. 3 Archives Jésuites de Vanves, France (ajv), rpo 52, “Université Saint-Joseph, Faculté orientale.” 4 Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu (arsi), 1007-vi, n. 52, “Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth (Syrie). Faculté orientale.” Beirut, March 1, 1913.
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guidance—have we on-site to learn more about the Orient? […] For all our scholarly questions we may rest assured that we will find in the Jesuits’ work the most extensive and effective understanding [of the region.]”5
The first dissertation defenses began in June 1906, with a committee of profes- sors from the Oriental Faculty. Prominent among those in attendance were the French consul in Syria, Fouques Duparc (1897–1966); the Syrian Catholic patri- arch in Antioch, Ignatius Dionysius Ephrem II Rahmani (1848–1929); and the German consul-general to Beirut, Paul Schroeder (1844–1915), author of Die phönizische Sprache.6 Edmond Power, S.J. (1878–1953) received the doctoral degree following a defense of his research on the Poésies religieuses d’Omayya ibn Abis-Salt, a study of the religious poetry of the medieval Andalusian scholar, whose work was widely known in Europe and the Islamic world.7 When Pope Pius X founded the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome (1909), he recruited several professors from the college of Beirut who had caught his attention to teach Oriental languages at his new establishment. Facing such competition from the Roman institute, the Oriental Faculty underwent a full program revision, culminating in a reduction of the number of courses. Those in Arabic, Hebrew, Syriac, Semitic epigraphy, and Oriental archaeology were to be maintained. For the other Orientalist disciplines no longer being taught, the faculty at Beirut still offered the rich print and manuscript collections of the Oriental library, along with the vast experience of its professors.8
5 “[…] le création des Pères de Beyrouth, qui ont si bien mérité des études orientales […] être approuvée sans réserve. Ceux qui connaissent les services des Jésuites en ce domaine de l’Orientalisme, savent comment ils unissent l’étude approfondie de la littérature arabe a l’initiation la plus étendue au savoir occidental […]. Quelle meilleure occasion—et sous quelle direction plus qualifiée—d’apprendre sur place à connaître l’Orient? […] Pour toutes les ques- tions scientifiques, nous pouvons être certains de rencontrer, chez les Jésuites, la compréhension la plus large et une aide efficace.” translated into French and quoted in Université Saint-Joseph, Les Jésuites en Syrie, 1831–1931 (Paris: Dillen, 1931), vol. 9: L’œuvre scientifique. Orientalisme. Archéologie, 24. The original text is found in “Die neue Orientalische Fakultät der Sankt-Josephs- Universität in Beirut,” Orientalistische Literaturzeitung 6 (1903): coll. 393–96, here 396. 6 Paul Schroeder, Die phönizische Sprache Entwurf einer Grammatik nebst Sprach-und Schriftproben (Halle: Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses, 1869). 7 For an overview of “the Physician-Philosopher” (al-Ṭabīal Faylasūf), see Muhammad Ali Mowlavi and Farzin Negahban, “Abū al-Ṣalt,” in Encyclopaedia Islamica, eds. Wilferd Madelung and Farhad Daftary; online version at http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/ entries/encyclopaedia-islamica/abu-al-s-alt-COM_0137 (accessed November 7, 2014). 8 Among the publications of the librarians at the Oriental Library is Soixante-quinze ans de travaux littéraires et scientifiques. Bibliographie de l’Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth (Beirut: Imprimerie catholique, 1951).
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The Mélanges de la Faculté Orientale
In the same year as the first dissertation defenses (1906), the Oriental Faculty inaugurated its journal, Mélanges de la Faculté Orientale, to highlight and dis- tribute the work of researchers at the institution. These had already been gain- ing international attention; for example, during the Easter holidays of 1905, the faculty had sent two delegates to the Athens Archaeological Congress. While in Greece, one of them, Henri Jalabert, S.J. (1913–1999), introduced and explained his project to collect ancient Greek and Latin inscriptions found in the region, entitled Recueil des inscriptions grecques et latines de la Syrie et de la Palestine.9 Then, in 1908, by special invitation, the Oriental Faculty was represented by two of its professors at both the Congress of Historical Sciences in Berlin and, the Congress of Orientalists in Copenhagen. Work presented at both events later appeared in Mélanges.10 The journal served from its inception as a nearly annual collection of erudite work: initially, it presented original studies and, after 1909, expanded to include bibliographies and critical essays. Very soon, the acronym mfob, standing for Mélanges de la Faculté Orientale de Beyrouth, headed the list of Orientalist journals cited by prominent scholars. By 1922, this abbreviation was replaced by musj, to reflect the new title of Mélanges de l’Université Saint-Joseph. The Belgian priest Jacques Forget (1852–1933) wrote in Le Museon de Louvain: “the war [World War I], which has interrupted such use- ful work, has also marked the end of the Oriental Faculty; the highly (and justly) appreciated Mélanges shall, from now on, be called Mélanges de l’Université Saint-Joseph.”11 The first volume, published in 1906, is a microcosm of the full series in its coverage of diverse and important subjects. In it, one can read the doctoral dissertations of Edmond Power, S.J. (1878–1953) and Jeremiah Augustine Hartigan (d. 1916), both defended in June 1906;12 an article by Henri Lammens,
9 Jalabert’s brother Louis saw to the initial publication of the inscriptions: Inscriptions grecques et latines de la Syrie (Paris: Geuthner, 1929). 10 Les Jésuites en Syrie, 1831–1931, 9:25. 11 “[L]a guerre qui a interrompu tant de travaux utiles aura aussi marqué la fin de la Faculté orientale; les Mélanges, si hautement et si justement appréciés, s’appelleront désormais Mélanges de l’Université Saint-Joseph.” The article is printed without a title in Le Museon de Louvain 36 (1923): 318. 12 Edmond Power: “Umayya ibn Abî-ṣ Ṣalt,” Mélanges de la Faculté Orientale de Beyrouth 1 (1906): 197–223; Jeremiah Augustine Hartigan, “Biśr ibn Abî Ḫâzim,” Mélanges de la Faculté Orientale de Beyrouth 1 (1906): 284–302. Power entered the Society of Jesus in 1896 and was sent by the province of Ireland to Beirut, where he stayed from 1902 to 1905 as a scholar and student of the Oriental Faculty. See Jalabert, Jésuites au Proche-Orient, 2:324.
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S.J. (1862–1937) on the Umayyad caliphate of Syria and Lebanon under Muʿāwiyah ibn ʾAbī Sufyān I;13 a study by Alexis Mallon, S.J. (1875–1934) on medieval Egyptian scholars;14 writings on archaeology and epigraphy by Louis Ronzevalle, S.J. (1871–1918) and Louis Jalabert, S.J. (1877–1943);15 an article by
For Hartigan, an Irish priest who served as army chaplain and died in Iraq, see Damien Burke, Irish Jesuit Chaplains in the First World War (Dublin: Messenger Publications, 2014). 13 Henri Lammens, “Etudes sur le règne du Calife Omaiyade Mo’âwia 1er,” Mélanges de la Faculté Orientale de Beyrouth 1 (1906): 1–108. Belgian Jesuit Henri Lammens was a histo- rian of the origins of Islam. He arrived in Beirut in 1877 with six companions and spent a year at the college there. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1878 and became a priest in 1893. He served as a prefect of studies in Beirut from 1897 to 1898. He taught Islamic his- tory, beginning with the origins of the Umayyads, at the Oriental Faculty in Beirut. Lammens spent most of the rest of his life in the East, with the exception of seven years of study in Cairo, Louvain, and Rome (1907–1914). Among his later publications are the fifty-six-page Mahomet fut-il sincère? (Paris: Bureaux des Recherches de Science reli- gieuse, 1911) [Abridged version: “Was Mohammed Sincere?” The Muslim World 5, no. 3 (1915): 262–67]; Lammens, Fatima et les filles de Mahomet: notes critiques sur l’étude de la Sira (Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1912). These and other studies before 1914, focus- ing on the importance of Umayyad Syria to Islam, served as handbooks to Syrian national- ists rising against the Ottomans. Lammens spent World War I in Egypt and returned to Beirut after its conclusion, where he took over the Sunday school teaching in the univer- sity’s church, became the president of the usj alumni association, and succeeded Cheikho as the head of al-Mashriq until 1934. After 1918, he enthusiastically followed the develop- ments that led Syria and Lebanon to their independence, and he received in 1928 the honorable “Lebanese Order of Merit” with the following inscription: “He helped, via his studies of the history of Lebanon, to give the nation a most clear sense of its origins, its past, and its character.” Lammens died in Beirut in 1937. See Jalabert, Jésuites au Proche- Orient, 1:331. 14 Alexis Mallon, “Une école de savants égyptiens au Moyen Age,” Mélanges de la Faculté Orientale de Beyrouth 1 (1906): 109–31. French archaeologist Mallon entered the Society of Jesus in 1893, and dedicated his life to the service of the Middle East. From 1893 to 1905 he was at Ghazīr (twice), Beirut (twice), and Cairo; he taught in the Oriental Faculty in Beirut from 1902 to 1905. From 1913 to 1914 he was in Jerusalem for the opening of a center of studies linked to the Biblical Institute in Rome. He died in Bethlehem of malaria con- tracted during his work. See Jalabert, Jésuites au Proche-Orient, 2:198; James H. Swetnam, “Mallon, Alexis,” in Diccionario histórico de la Compañía de Jesús: biográfico-temático, eds. Charles E. O’Neill and Joaquín María Domínguez, 4 vols. (Rome-Madrid: Institutum Historicum Societatis Iesu-Universidad Pontificia Comillas, 2001), 3:2485–86. 15 Louis Ronzevalle: “Bas-reliefs rupestres des environs de Qabéliâs,” Mélanges de la Faculté Orientale de Beyrouth 1 (1906): 223–38; Louis Jalabert, “Inscriptions grecques et latines de Syrie,” Mélanges de la Faculté Orientale de Beyrouth 1 (1906): 132–88. Louis Ronzevalle, a specialist in Arab and Syrian studies, was a Frenchman born in Andrinople (Edirne). After studying at the Collège-Séminaire de Ghazīr in Beirut, he entered the Society of Jesus in
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Abbé Marius Chaîne (1873–1960) on the Ethiopian apocrypha; and an essay by Louis Cheikho on the history of the Crusades.16 In subsequent years, publica- tion in the Mélanges was opened to several foreign scholars at the Oriental Faculty who had benefitted in various capacities from other cultural and intel- lectual resources in Beirut.
The Creation of the Oriental Library17
When the Collège-Séminaire de Ghazīr became the Université Saint-Joseph in 1875, some of the funding was used to create a library.18 Alexandre Bourquenoud, S.J. (1824–1868), from Fribourg, was initially responsible for assembling the core of published works by identifying and exploring the region’s rich archaeological treasures.19 The collection initially held approximately five thousand volumes,
1889, and began his novitiate in 1890; he was ordained a priest in 1904. Ronzevalle was professor of Arabic in the Oriental Faculty and served as director of Mélanges (1908–1914), for which he authored many articles on Oriental music. In 1914 he was named a military chaplain, and once decommissioned, concentrated on teaching rhetoric, Arabic, and Syriac at the Oriental Institute in Rome from 1915 until his death. See Jalabert, Jésuites au Proche-Orient, 1:179. Louis Jalabert spent over eight years in Beirut in a total of three stays. He entered the Society in 1895. Beginning in 1903 he was a student of epigraphy and a teacher at the Oriental Faculty. He initiated the publication of Inscriptions grecques et latines de la Syrie (Paris: Geuthner, 1929), which was continued by René Mouterde, S.J. (1880–1962) upon Jalabert’s death and by Maurice Sartre (1944– ) and Annie Sartre- Fauriat (1947– ) upon Mouterde’s death. See Jalabert, Jésuites au Proche-Orient, 1:237. 16 Marius Chaîne: “Le Cycle de la Vierge dans les Apocryphes éthiopiens,” Mélanges de la Faculté Orientale de Beyrouth 1 (1906): 189–96; Louis Cheikho: “Un dernier écho des Croisades,” Mélanges de la Faculté Orientale de Beyrouth 1 (1906): 303–39. Chaîne, born in Tarascon, joined the Society of Jesus in 1897 but left after World War I. 17 See also Rafael Herzstein, “Les phases de l’evolution de l’Université Saint-Joseph: les pre- mières décennies (1875–1914),” Historical Studies in Education/Revue d’histoire de l’éducation 24, no. 1 (2012): 21–41, here 27–28. 18 Archivum Secretum Vaticanum (asv) 198, “1830–1899: Relazioni e Corrispondenza della Delegazione Apostolica con i Padri Gesuiti,” Letter of 1876. 19 asv 198, “1830–1899: Relazioni e Corrispondenza,” Letter of 1876. Alexandre Bourquenoud of the Province of Upper Germany was a professor of theology and an Orientalist. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1842 and was sent to the East to study Arabic and Biblical geography. While a professor of theology, he also served as a prefect of studies at Ghazīr. He knew Hebrew, Syriac, and Greek thoroughly, and spoke Arabic, English, Italian, as well as writing elegantly in German and French. Working with other scholars, he collected the first volumes of what later became a part of the Oriental Library. He died in Ghazīr during a mission. See Jalabert, Jésuites au Proche-Orient, 1:21.
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20 asv 198, “1830–1899: Relazioni e Corrispondenza.” Joseph Van Ham, German-born of Dutch extraction, was a writer and polemicist. He entered the Society of Jesus in the Province of the Low Countries in 1835 and in 1865 he arrived in Beirut, where he studied the Oriental languages for three years. At the end of this period he stayed in Syria in order to collabo- rate on an Arabic version of the Bible, occasioning several clashes with the Protestants. He also worked for over twenty years as inspector of the Oriental Library’s books. He died in 1889 in Taanayel (in the Beqaa Valley). See Jalabert, Jésuites au Proche-Orient, 1:66. 21 asv 198, “1830–1899: Relazioni e Corrispondenza,” Letter of 1874. 22 Les Jésuites en Syrie, 1831–1931, 9:10. 23 Ibid. 24 arsi, 1007-I, Letters of Lucien Cattin. Lucien Cattin (1851–1929) was born in Noirmont (Switzerland) and died at Taanayel. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1868. He served as superior of the Jesuits in the Middle East from 1901 to 1907, rector of usj from 1897 to 1910, and chancellor of the Faculté Française de Médecine from 1895 to 1913. Jean Ducruet, Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth. Campus des Sciences Médicales. Livre d’Or 1883–1983. Facultés de Médecine et de Pharmacie 1883. Faculté de Médecine Dentaire 1920. Ecole de Sages-Femmes 1923. Faculté de Sciences infirmières 1929 (Lebanon: Catholic Press sal Araya, 1992), 10–16.
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The Importance of the Catholic Press
The American Protestant mission had reaped multiple advantages from its Arabic-language press, one of the best in what was then called Syria.30 Just as they founded the Université Saint-Joseph to counter the influence of the American University (called the Syrian Protestant College until 1920), the Jesuits opened an
25 Ducruet, Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth. 26 arsi, 1007-I, Letters of Lucien Cattin. Henri Gressien entered the Society of Jesus in 1878. He served as president of the Université Saint-Joseph and Chancellor of the Oriental Faculty of Beirut from 1904 to 1907. He died in Lyon in 1934. See Jalabert, Jésuites au Proche-Orient, 2:202. 27 Carla Eddé, L’Université Saint-Joseph. Portrait d’une Université (Beirut: Presse de l’Université Saint-Joseph, 2000), 56. 28 Henri Lammens, La Syrie, précis historique (Beirut: Imprimerie catholique, 1921); Lammens, L’Islam, croyances et institutions (Beirut: Imprimerie catholique, 1926) [English translation, Islam: Beliefs and Institutions (London: Methuen & Co., 1929)]. 29 Both were published in Beirut by l’Imprimerie catholique. 30 See Herzstein, “Les phases de l’évolution,” 30–32.
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Arabic printing house in 1847 to match the Americans.31 Initially, they were not competitive; for several years the Society had to content itself with a small man- ual press (autographie), which until 1852 published about a dozen works by Edouard Billotet, S.J. (1812–1860).32 In 1852, according to Jean-Baptiste Piolet, S.J. (1855–1930), a pilgrim from the Holy Land who wanted to distribute the pam- phlet l’Imitation de Jésus-Christ en Syrie donated five thousand francs for the pur- chase of a better printing press, enabling larger-scale production. Henceforth, Antoine Tallon S.J. (1816–1888) took over as its director, with As’ad El-Khoury as second-in-command.33 El-Khoury received the title of officer of the academy from the French government in recognition of his fifty years of service (he died in 1902). In 1854, the newly efficient press produced two thousand copies of L’imitation.34 According to Billotet, the printing house bought Roman characters in 1855, obtained two more presses from the Oeuvre des Écoles d’Orient (in 1856 and 1861, respectively) and acquired a small three-horsepower steam engine in 1867.35 The expanding and increasingly technologically advanced press pub- lished several educational books from the 1860s to the 1880s: the Arabic-French grammar of Louis Abougit, S.J. (1819–1895); the Arabic-French dictionary of Philippe Cuche, S.J. (1818–1895), acclaimed by the Arabic-speaking public for its quality and originality; and the monumental French-Arabic lexicon (8,715 pages) of Joseph Heury, S.J. (1824–1897).36 In the course of a single year, 1860,
31 Jacques Delore,”La bonne presse au Liban,” Les missions catholiques 45 (1913): 201–13. 32 “Un atelier chrétien. L’imprimerie catholique de Beyrouth,” Les missions catholiques 14 (1882): 616–18. Frenchman Edouard Billotet was the superior of the mission from 1850 to 1859. He embarked for Beirut in 1845, and took on the name of Abouna Hanna (Father John). He served as professor at the School of Beirut, where he introduced the French prac- tice of solemn communion, which included catechesis as preparation for confirmation. As mission superior, he strengthened the schools and printed religious works in Arabic on the manual press (these books are no longer extant). He also developed the Seminary-College of Ghazīr. He was killed in the massacres of 1860 at Zahle because of his religious beliefs. See Jalabert, Jésuites au Proche-Orient, 1:8; Les Jésuites en Syrie, 1831–1931, 6:10. 33 Antoine Tallon, born in Lyon, entered the Society of Jesus in 1838. He arrived in Beirut in 1853, where upon arrival he was placed in charge of the press. He is only referred to as “printer” between 1861 and 1877. Tallon remained in Beirut until his death in 1888. See Jalabert, Jésuites au Proche-Orient, 1:60. 34 Jean-Baptiste Piolet, “L’Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth, à l’occasion de son cinquan- tenaire,” Revue d’Histoire des Missions 3 (1926): 52–91. 35 See the announcement in Bulletin de l’Oeuvre des Ecoles d’Orient 2 (1858): 284. 36 Louis Abougit, Principes de la grammaire arabe à l’usage des écoles de Français en Orient (Beirut: l’Imprimerie catholique, 1862); Joseph Heury: Vocabulaire français-arabe (Beirut: l’Imprimerie catholique, 1888); Philippe Cuche, Qamus `arabi faransawi = Dictionnaire arabe-français: contenant tous les racines usitées de la langue arabe, leurs derivés tant dans
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l’idiome vulgaire que dans l’idiome litéral, ainsi que la dialecte de Syrie (Beirut: l’Imprimerie catholique, 1862). Louis Abougit, of the province of Toulouse, was a missionary and histo- rian of the mission’s origins; he entered the Society of Jesus in 1842 and became a priest in 1846. That same year he was sent to the mission in Syria where he quickly learned Arabic and Italian (the language commonly used in that community). He undertook his tertian- ship in Rome (1855–1856), during which he noticed in the Church’s archives a series of documents pertaining to the “old mission” in Syria, as well as to the origins of the “new mission.” He was stationed in various posts, even briefly in Damascus and Cairo; he founded the congregations of Ghazīr and Bikfaya; he enthusiastically taught young men and advised many families and was well loved among the Maronite villagers of the moun- tain. He was passionate about the mission’s history, and began to write it; but the work, which remained unfinished at his death, suffered from his infirmities and age. He died quietly in Ghazīr. See Jalabert, Jésuites au Proche-Orient, 1:90. Joseph Heury entered the Society of Jesus in 1842. He taught philosophy and mathematics at Ghazīr (1851–1852), after which he studied moral theology, in Beirut (1852–1853) and at Ghazīr (1853–1854), while learning Arabic. His career included posts as missionary in Saida and prosecutor in Beirut. He was also in charge of the Catholic press from 1860 to 1861. He spent his last years in Zahle, where he served as superior (1890–1893), and then spiritual director. He created the first Arabic-French dictionary printed in the East. See Jalabert, Jésuites au Proche-Orient, 1:291. Philippe Cuche entered the Society of Jesus in 1843. He was vice- chancellor of Ghazīr (1858–1861), and founder of the residences in Aleppo (1873) and Homs (1882). Known as a talented Arabic writer, he was the director of al-Bashir in 1877 and in 1881, for which he also wrote. Cuche was the superior at the Résidence in Bikfaya from 1892 until his death in 1895. See Jalabert, Jésuites au Proche-Orient, 1:91. 37 See the announcement in Bulletin de l’Oeuvre des Ecoles d’Orient (May 1863): 288. 38 Henri Charles, Jésuites missionnaires. Syrie. Proche-Orient (Paris: Editeur Beauchesne, 1929), 31. Elijah Marie Elias entered the Society of Jesus in 1862, and died in 1901 at Taanayel. He came from a humble Muslim family from Haifa with the surname of Sâis; his father worked at the convent of Carmel, where the family also lived. His mother, although also a Muslim like her husband and children, was deeply devoted to Our Lady of Mount Carmel. She often visited the celebrated shrine, where one can venerate an image attrib- uted to St. Luke, usually bringing her children with her. All the children worked in the convent as their father had done before them, and learned to pray to the Virgin Mary. When he turned fifteen, Elias converted to Christianity after being miraculously saved from a potentially fatal fall from scaffolding. He was baptized along with his brother
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Joseph in Zahle in 1856. He was then sent to France for his own safety; there, he entered the Society in 1862, and soon returned to the Orient, where he began work as a blacksmith before moving to the printing press. He revolutionized Arabic printing, joining the bases of consonants and emphasis or accent vowels, innovations since adopted by all presses in the Arab world. He was the head of the Catholic Press in Beirut for thirty years until his death. Far from wanting to establish a monopoly, he wished to pass on to others the art of his business and work, and even aided in the opening of other printing houses in Beirut. In 1899, the printer acquired a third machine with the potency of twelve horsepower, the last great contribution of Brother Marie Elias before his death. See Jalabert, Jésuites au Proche-Orient, 1:132. 39 “L’impression de l’ouvrage, prononça le jury, la perfection de ses caractères le mettait à part parmi toutes les publications arabes connues à cette époque.” Les Jésuites en Syrie, 1831–1931, 6:37. This bible had been translated by Ibrahim al-Yasiji (1847–1906) and Augustin Rodet, S.J. (1828–1906); the medal was awarded not to Elias but to Yasiji, but the citation clearly refers to the technical expertise. 40 See the documents quoted in “Nouvelles” by Belin (Consul-general of France to Constantinople), beginning with “L’imprimerie des Jésuites à Beyrouth.” Les missions catholiques 7 (1875): 27–28. 41 Les Jésuites en Syrie, 1831–1931, 6:12. 42 L’Imprimerie catholique de Beyrouth et son oeuvre en Orient (1853–1903) (Brussels: Imprimerie Polleunis, Ceuterick et Lefebvre, 1903), 21. 43 Jean-Baptiste Belot, al-Faraid al-durriyah fi al-lughatayn al-‘arabiyah wa-al-faransiyah [Arab-French dictionary] (Beirut: l’Imprimerie catholique, 1889) and Donat Vernier, Grammaire arabe composée d’après les sources primitives (Beirut: l’Imprimerie catholique,
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Arabic-English dictionary of Joseph-Gabriel Hava, S.J. (1851–1916),44 and the three- volume dictionary, entirely in Arabic, of Universtié Saint-Joseph professor of Arabic rhetoric Sa’īd Chartouni (1849–1912).45 Following this, anthologies and chrestomathies appeared, which were quickly adopted by schools in Egypt, Palestine, and Syria.46 In the third group were the journals al-Mashriq, Mélanges de la Faculté orientale de l’Université Saint-Joseph, and al-Bashir.47 The third of these, al-Bashir (The Messenger), was also the oldest. It was a religious triweekly, and was considered a defender of the Catholic religious cause in the East.48 In January 1870, Ambroise Monnot, S.J. (1831–1898) had created its precursor, the Concile du Vatican, a weekly Arabic brochure of eight pages, in order to defend the sitting Vatican Council (1869–1870) from the violent attacks of Beirut’s Protestant journals.49
1899). Belot entered the Society of Jesus in 1842. He arrived in the Middle East in 1865 and served as the director of the Catholic printing house (1868–1898; for Arabic titles alone, 1898–1904). He also assisted Brother Elias, who directed the workshops and presses. He was the author of about twenty works in Arabic (originals and translations), on topics such as spirituality, Christian life, Scripture—including the three-volume La Bible des enfants (Beirut: l’Imprimerie catholique, 1897)—and two dictionaries: al-Faraid and Dictionnaire français-arabe (Beirut: l’Imprimerie catholique, 1890), called the Belot. See Jalabert, Jésuites au Proche-Orient. Notices biographique, 1:149. Vernier entered the Society of Jesus in 1855. A scholar at Ghazīr (1859–1868), in France he pursued theology. He returned to the Orient in 1873. In addition to the grammar, he authored several works in Arabic and Histoire du Patriarcat arménien catholique (Paris-Lyon: Delhomme et Briguet, 1891). See Jalabert, Jésuites au Proche-Orient, 1:230. 44 Joseph-Gabriel Hava, al-Faraid: Arabic-English Dictionary (Beirut: l’Imprimerie catholique, 1899). Hava, born a Melkite Greek Catholic, entered the Society of Jesus in 1882. Sent to Beirut in 1883, he co-directed the congregation of the working-men in Beirut (1889–1891), and also served as missionary in several Lebanese missions. He served as scriptor in Beirut from 1895 to 1896, which is undoubtedly where he developed his al-Far- aid. He died in 1916 in Lebanon. See Jalabert, Jésuites au Proche-Orient, 1:228. 45 Saïd al-Khuri Chartuni, Aqrab-el-mawarid (Beirut: l’Imprimerie catholique, 1899). 46 L’imprimerie catholique de Beyrouth, 83. 47 Ibid. For more information on the periodicals and journals of the Catholic press in Beirut, see asv 199, “1900–1913: Relazioni e Corrispondenza della Delegazione Apostolica con i Padri Gesuiti,” Letter of Cattin, September 28, 1903; Archivio Storico “de Propaganda Fide,” Scritture riferite nei Congressi (sc), Siria, 2 (1874–1880), letter of January 22, 1880. 48 “La presse protestante et le Bashir,” Les Missions catholiques 4 (1872): 275–76 and 517–18. 49 arsi, 1005-II, n. 45 (1882). Ambroise Monnot entered the Society of Jesus 1846. From 1869 to 1876, he was the superior of the mission in Syria. Founder of the usj, he was also a participant in the early stages of al-Bashir, and of an Arabic-language Bible (on which we have no further information). He was provincial of Lyon from 1877 to 1883, and procurator in both the province and the mission from 1883 to 1896. He died in Lyon in 1898. See Jalabert, Jésuites au Proche-Orient, 2:26.
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Because of its success, the brochure continued publication into 1871, at which point its name was changed to al-Bashir. It then took the format of a journal, doubling in size.50 In 1888, the journal was awarded a certificate of honor and a silver medal from the Roman jubilee committee of Pope Leo XIII (1820–1903, r. 1878–1903). On January 1, 1894, al-Bashir adopted the design of the major news- papers of Europe. In 1895, on its twenty-fifth anniversary, patriarchs and bishops alike praised its “zeal and struggles in the defense of Christian interests as well as safety, along with the reliability of its information.”51 The periodical was, how- ever, occasionally censored in Constantinople.52
The Periodical al-Mashriq
By the end of 1897, the plan for a scholarly Catholic Arabic journal of Middle Eastern studies came to fruition. It had a short-lived precursor, the periodical al-Kanīsa al-Kāthūlīkiyya/L’Eglise Catholique, printed by Jesuits in Beirut from 1888 to 1890. Cheikho served as the director of al-Mashriq, which first appeared in early 1898.53 He was also the journal’s most active and productive editor. In multiple issues, his byline appears up to four times, typically in articles based on long and extensive research. Of the 25,000 pages of al-Mashriq published before his death, approximately three-fifths can be attributed to Cheikho. It fought in defense of Catholic truths alongside al-Bashir, yet it was also an out- let for healthy intellectual inquiry. The prestige, energy, and dedication of its founder allowed al-Mashriq to survive in spite of the frustrations of Ottoman censorship and the greater crisis of a global war. In the official application for permission addressed to the Ottoman central government, Cheikho, born an Ottoman subject, committed to uphold “all Ottoman publication rules, and respect the sultan’s sacred rights as well as those of the imperial government.” He agreed that the journal should be treated “like all other native periodicals
50 To see an example of al-Bashir kept in Rome: arsi, 1005-VI, n. 29 (January 13, 1885). See annex n. 4, al-Bashir of December 31, 1887. 51 “[…] son zèle, ses luttes pour la défense des intérêts chrétiens ainsi que la sûreté, le séri- eux de ses informations.” Piolet, “L’Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth,” 87. 52 In 1903, for instance, following censorship requirements issued from Constantinople, the almanac had to suppress some information that would have customarily been given to its readers, such as lists of military and civilian authorities in the country. See also arsi, 1007-I, Letter n. 5 of Cattin (May 5, 1902). 53 See also asv 199, “1900–1913: Relazioni e Corrispondenza,” Letter of Cattin, September 28, 1903.
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54 Carlo Alfonso Nallino to Cheikho, quoted in L’imprimerie catholique de Beyrouth, 133: “à toutes les lois ottomanes réglementant la presse, de respecter les droits sacrés du sultan et du gouvernement impérial,” and “comme toutes les autres publications périodiques indigènes, sans réclamer aucun régime de faveur et se reconnaissait personnellement responsable en cas de transgression.” 55 L’imprimerie catholique de Beyrouth, 117. 56 Nallino to Cheikho, quoted in L’imprimerie catholique de Beyrouth, 133. 57 For more details on al-Mashriq’s articles see L’imprimerie catholique de Beyrouth, 118–13. 58 See also Francesco Gabrieli, “Un Centro missionario di Studi superiori in Oriente, l’Université Saint-Joseph di Beirut,” Rivista dell’Unione missionaria del clero 9 (1927) [no page numbers].
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This success was not to last very long, due to rising global tensions which engulfed the region. During World War I, the Université Saint-Joseph was shut down, and the contents of the Catholic presses, including their machinery, were dispersed to two printers in Beirut and two others in Damascus.59 The diplomatic rupture between France and the Ottoman Empire began on November 2, 1914; by November 4, foreign lay professors and their families were leaving the region.60 On November 14, the Université Saint-Joseph buildings and establishments were taken over, and by November 21 the remaining reli- gious citizens of belligerent countries were expelled.61 These events damaged the university, library, and press beyond repair.
Conclusion
The Catholic press (l’Imprimerie catholique) in Beirut had been an important support for the Université Saint-Joseph and its Oriental Library. The Université Saint-Joseph preserved and produced knowledge through a rigorous program of study, an internationally recognized teaching staff, and the journal Mélanges de la Faculté Orientale; its prestige, and that of its publications, was recognized throughout the Middle East and Europe. The press also produced two other important periodicals (al-Bashir and al-Mashriq), and each year produced more and more works. It became a flagship in Orientalist studies throughout the world, and contributed to the development of the university library by attracting scholars to research and publish on Middle Eastern studies. The rich collection of volumes, collections, and periodicals in different languages, along with a trove of unpublished works, found in the Oriental Library benefited from the activities of the university and the journals, expanding its holdings and developing a reputation as a center for Orientalists. While this work was interrupted by the First World War, its historical significance remains, and it should be acknowledged as an important chapter in the history of Jesuit book collections. The newer Mélanges and al-Mashriq held their own in the Oriental Library alongside the more established journals. Given the distance from European
59 Piolet, “L’Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth,” 91. 60 arsi, 1007-III, n. 51 (1914). 61 Fortunately we know well all the events that occurred during the war thanks to the diaries of Paul Mattern (1869–1943), an Alsatian who earned the right to remain in his home. On this topic, see: ajv, rpo 1: Collection Jalabert, 1963, personal diary of R.P. Paul Mattern, 1914–1918.
journal of jesuit studies 2 (2015) 248-264 Downloaded from Brill.com10/01/2021 11:09:39PM via free access
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