‘A Syrian diasporic private archive: the Mishaqa family collection’
The Mishaqas have been a prominent Christian family in Lebanon and Syria since the mid-eighteenth century. Their most celebrated member, Mikha’il Mishaqa (1800-1888), was a ‘Renaissance man’ of Ottoman Syria: polymath, diplomat, religious controversialist, financier, physician. Later generations of the family have continued to play important roles both in the Levant and in the diaspora. I will present some aspects of their rich family archive, which family members generously shared with me during my recent research for a book on Mikha’il Mishaqa; and discuss plans for making this unique resource, now dispersed in a number of international locations, available to scholars and the public.
Date: 25 January 2024, 11:15 (Thursday, 2nd week, Hilary 2024)
Venue: Balliol College, Broad Street OX1 3BJ
Venue Details: Old Common Room
Speaker: Dr Peter Hill (Northumbria)
Organising department: Faculty of History
Organiser: John-Paul Ghobrial
Part of: Religion and Mobility in Late Ottoman and Modern Middle Eastern History (The ‘Moving Stories’ Seminar)
Booking required?: Not required
Audience: Members of the University only
Editors: Belinda Clark, Alexia Lewis