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American University of Beirut a Portrait of Armenian

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American University of Beirut a Portrait of Armenian AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF BEIRUT A PORTRAIT OF ARMENIAN STUDENT LIFE AT THE SYRIAN PROTESTANT COLLEGE 1885-1920 by HRATCH YERVANT KESTENIAN A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts to the Department of History and Archaeology of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at the American University of Beirut Beirut, Lebanon September 2015 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This thesis would not have been possible without the support of my advisor, Dr. Alexis Wick and committee members, Dr. Samir Seikaly and Dr. Nadia El-Cheikh. ,¶PGHHSO\JUDWHIXOWRP\DGYLVRU'U$OH[LV:LFNIRUKLVtime, edits, and constructive criticism. ,¶PIRUHYHULQGHEWHGWR'U6DPLU6HLNDO\IRUWHDFKLQJPHKRZWRGRUHVHDUFK! Very special thanks to the archivists at the AUB library, as well as the librarians at Haigazian University. I would like also to thank Drs. Zaven Messerlian, Ara Sanjian, Vahe Tachjian, Selim Deringil and Yervant Kassouni for their encouragement and advise during my graduate studies. "!#$!%&#'()*+!),&!'-(!$,.'!/012!#12!3#&01%!)&0(12.4!5#$#&#!#12!6-,,1!'-#1/!7,*!),&!7,*&! 3,$8#179!-(+8!#12!$,&#+!.*88,&':! ! ;#.'!<*'!1,'!+(#.'9!"!=,*+2!+0/(!',!'-#1/!$7!8#&(1'.!#12!.0.'(&.!),&!'-(0&!+,>(9! *12(&.'#1201%9!8#'0(13(!#12!'&*.': V AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Hratch Yervant Kestenian for Master of Arts Major: History Title: A Portrait of Armenian Student Life at the Syrian Protestant College 1885-1920 In December 1866 the Syrian Protestant College opened its doors with four professors and sixteen students. The College soon became a recognized center of higher education in the Ottoman Empire, and attracted without discrimination a large number of students from all over the Empire. Daniel Bliss, the founding father of the college, quickly organized a medical department to fulfill the needs of the region. After the language change in the medical department from Arabic to English, non-Arabic speaking students, among whom were many Armenians, started enrolling in the College. 7KLVWKHVLV³$3RUWUDLWRI$UPHQLDQ6WXGHQW/LIHDWWKH6\ULDQ3URWHVWDQW College: 1885-´H[DPLQHVWKHGHQRPLQDWLRQDOVRFLDODQGHFRQRPLFEDFNJURXQGRI more than 230 Armenian students who came from Anatolia, anxious to study medicine at the SPC. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of SPC education on those students in the construction of an Armenian national consciousness. Besides exploring an LPSRUWDQWDVSHFWRIWKH&ROOHJH¶VKLVWRU\DQGUHFRQVWUXFWLQJVWXGHQWOLIHGXULQJD challenging era, this thesis also highlights the exceptional but marginalized role played by the Armenian medical Alumni of the University during the First World War. VI CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................ V ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................... VI Chapter I. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................. 1 A. A Brief History of the Syrian Protestant College (SPC) ......................... 1 II. COMING TO THE SPC ................................................................... 5 A. Reasons for choosing the SPC ............................................................... 5 B. Reaching Beirut ................................................................................... 11 C. Revolutionaries heading to Beirut ........................................................ 13 D. Conclusion .......................................................................................... 21 III. ACADEMIC FORMATION ........................................................ 22 A. Education and Nationalism .................................................................. 22 B. Textbooks used at the SPC................................................................... 25 C. Representations of the Armenian Community ...................................... 30 D. Donated Armenian Books .................................................................... 32 E. School of Nursing ................................................................................ 40 F. Conclusion .......................................................................................... 41 VII IV. STUDENT LIFE AND EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES ................................................................................ 43 A. Student Societies ................................................................................. 44 B. The Armenian Students Union ............................................................. 46 C. The University Student Union.............................................................. 54 D. Student Manuscripts ............................................................................ 55 E. Student Life ......................................................................................... 61 1. Theatrical Plays, Interracial Nights and Gatherings ........................ 64 2. College Field Day ............................................................................ 65 3. Work Study ..................................................................................... 66 4. Students on Vacation ....................................................................... 67 V. ON WAR! ............................................................................................. 70 A. The Road to WWI ............................................................................... 71 B. From Suez to the Dardanelles .............................................................. 74 C. Faculty, Students, Jemal Pasha and the War ......................................... 76 D. Alumni Letters and War Experiences ................................................... 81 E. Conclusion .......................................................................................... 86 VI. CONCLUSION .................................................................................. 88 Appendix .................................................................................................................... 95 I. LIST OF ARMENIAN STUDENTS 1885-1918 .................... 95 II. NUMBER OF STUDENTS AT VARIOUS MISSIONARY SCHOOLS ........................................................................... 118 III. ARMENIAN POEMS TO WHICH THE STUDENTS WERE EXPOSED ................................................................................ 119 VIII IV. LIST OF ARMENIAN MEDICAL ALUMNI WHO DIED DURING WWI AND AFTER ........................................................ 124 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................ 130 IX CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION In the early evening of June 26, 1923, a large congregation of doctors and pharmacists gathered in the upper foyer of West Hall, at the American University of Beirut, to witness the unveiling of a tablet inscribed with the names of thirty-two medical alumni who perished in the course of World War I.1 Seventeen of these medical SURIHVVLRQDOVZHUH$QDWROLDQ$UPHQLDQVZKRKDGFRPHWR%HLUXWLQWKHHDUO\¶VWR study medicine at the Syrian Protestant College (renamed American University of Beirut after 1920). During the Lebanese civil strife, in 1976, the bronze memorial was moved to WKHXQLYHUVLW\¶V&ROOHJH+DOOWRSURWHFWLWIURPGDPDJHDQGWKHSRVVLELOLW\RIWKHIW± but it lay there for years, forgotten, until research conducted to write this thesis recovered the lost tablet and the story behind its construction. On 1 November 2012, a new tablet was constructed and permanently installed in its original location in commemoration of AUB medical doctors, pharmacists and nurses who saved the college from closure during the war and sacrificed their lives for the well-being of others. A. A Brief History of the Syrian Protestant College (SPC) In December 1866 the Syrian Protestant College (hereafter SPC) opened its doors with four professors and sixteen students. The College soon became a recognized center of higher education in the Ottoman Empire, and attracted a large number of students from all over the Empire. Daniel Bliss, the founding father of the college, quickly 1 For further information on the Memorial tablet see: Al-Kulliyah 9, no.8 (1923); Al- Kulliyah 12, no.5 (1926). 1 organized a medical department to fulfill the needs of the region and produce an elite native leadership, which could assist in molding the socio-economic, religious and political nature of the Arab provinces. In 1883, with the language change in the medical department from Arabic to English, the SPC began appealing to Armenian, Greek and Persian students as well; students eager to study medicine and pharmacy came to AUB from Anatolia and Persia. The SPC and the American missionaries with their educational mission tried to µFLYLOL]H¶WKHORFDOVE\LQWURGXFLQJ:HVWHUQLGHDOVUHODWHGWRSURJUHVVGHPRFUDF\OLEHUW\ and equality. At the same time Sultan Abdul Hamid II and his officials endeavored to counter the missionaries by introducing modern schools and colleges which targeted primarily Muslim students from various ethnicities. In both of these cases, education became an important socialization agent and played a pivotal role in agitating national consciousness. Even though the missionaries staunchly opposed separatist nationalism, since it contradicted their religious teachings, in a period of censorship their schools provided a fertile ground for the discussion of revolutionary ideas and the development of nationalist sentiments. 7KLVWKHVLV³$3RUWUDLWRI$UPHQLDQ6WXGHQW/LIHDWWKH6\ULDQ3URWHVWDQW&ROOHJH 1885-´H[DPLQHVWKHGHQRPLQDWLRQDOVRFLDODQGHFRQRPLFEDFNJURXQGRIPRUH
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