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.[2] He had two brothers, Jurji and Daoud.[3]
Sabunji received education at the seminary in the Syriac Catholic Church in Mount Lebanon in 1850.[3] Then he attended the College of Pontifical Propaganda in Rome between 1853 and 1861 and received a PhD in theology.[1][3] There he also learned photography.[3]
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.[3] He established and headed a school named Al Madrasa Al Siriyaniyya (Arabic: the Syriac School) in 1864.[3] Then he began to work as a priest in Beirut where he launched a weekly journal entitled Al Nahla in 1870.[1][2] 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.[2] 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.[2]
Work
Sabunji was the author of several unpublished manuscripts, including Diwan and his diary Yıldız Sarayında bir Papaz (Turkish: A Priest in Yıldız Palace).[3]
Later years and death
Sabunji settled in Egypt during World War I and then went to the United States where he lived in poverty.[3] In 1931, he was murdered by burglars in Los Angeles at age 93.[3]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g L. Zolondek (January 1978). "Sabunji in England 1876-91: His Role in Arabic Journalism". Middle Eastern Studies. 14 (1): 102–115. doi:10.1080/00263207808700368.
- ^ a b c d Rogier Visser (2014). Identities in early Arabic journalism: The case of Louis Ṣābūnjī (PhD thesis). University of Amsterdam. p. 5. hdl:11245/1.406149. ISBN 9789491164200.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Stephen Sheehi (28 May 2015). "The Life and Times of Louis Saboungi. A Nomadological Study of Ottoman Arab Photography". Ibraaz. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
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