In 1875 Lebanon was part of the Ottoman Empire. And as the Ottoman Empire was, by then, the sick man of Europe (a phrase coined by Tsar Nicholas I in 1853, I learn), it was also subject to French colonial influence. In 1875 French Jesuits established St Joseph’s University in Beirut: a private institution subsidised by the French government.
(An aside: echoes here of Confucius Institutes today. Will a historian in 100 years, if there is such a thing, look back and observe how Chinese cultural influence shaped Europe?)
Pope Leo XIII had authorised the establishment of a faculty of theology. The French government, notwithstanding its then anticlerical policy, paid for the medical school. The Hôtel-Dieu de France, the hospital associated with the medical school is today one of Lebanon’s leading hospitals. Over time the university has grown beyond these subjects, with law and engineering notable additions. The school of law is feted as the first law school in Lebanon since the Roman law school in Berytus, which flourished between 238 and 551 CE.
During the first world war, when the Ottoman Empire allied with Germany and Austria-Hungary, Lebanon came under German control, and there were efforts to develop local French Catholic institutions such as St Joseph’s along more German lines. But, post war, France was given a mandate to govern Lebanon and Syria (James Barr’s A Line in the Sand is an excellent introduction to the history of this time and area, if you are interested) and St Joseph’s University continued to grow and develop.
In January 1929 the Catholic News reported on the award of the Medaille du Merite Libanais to Henri Lammens, Belgian orientalist and scholar, who spend much of his working life at the university.
By 1945 Lebanon had become both de facto and de jure independent of France. With multiple languages, politics which followed religious lines, the legacy of colonial occupation, and neighbouring a centre of global oil-related conflict and the tumult of the creation of the Israeli state, Lebanon must have been (and certainly still is) a difficult country to govern.
On 24 January 1959 The Scotsman reported on trouble at the university:
BEIRUT STUDENTS STRIKE Study of law dispute A strike of university students in Beirut threatens to set off again serious unrest between the Arab and Christian communities. The dispute is about the study of law in the Lebanon. Up to last year there were two academies of law, one run by the Jesuits as a faculty of their St Joseph University. The other is a private school run by a Mr Boutros. The Jesuit school is conducted in French, the Boutros school in Arabic. The official language of government and the law courts is Arabic. The mixture of language and legal precedent makes the balance in Lebanese life extremely fine.
This balance was upset last year when the pro-Western Chamoun Government gave official blessing to the Jesuit school and refused to recognise the Boutros diploma as qualification for legal practice.
Clearly the university reflected national divisions.
In September 1971 the Manchester Evening News reported – in the lovely way that local newspapers did – on “Miss Hala Zamaria, a Syrian studying business sciences at St Joseph’s University, Beirut [who was] spending seven weeks at the head office of the Nationwide Building Society in Manchester.”
There are no building societies in the Lebanon, said Miss Zamaria. When a couple want to buy a house, they usually borrow the money from relations or friends. I have greatly enjoyed being in Manchester. Perhaps I shall return next year too study marketing, which I hope to take up as a career.
The university today has thirteen faculties and multiple campuses: five in Beirut and additionally sites in Tripoli, Sidon and Zahlé within Lebanon, and in Dubai too. It teaches in Arabic, French and English and has over 12000 students. Here’s an interesting discussion of the foundation of the university by Yasmina Edl Chami of the University of Sheffield.
Here’s a jigsaw of the postcard. The card was posted in Damascus in March 1912, to an address in Worcester.
It’s pretty hard to read, so any suggestions welcome. With the help of some great people on the interweb (shout-outs to the legends who are Alix Mortimer and Margaret Ruwoldt) I think it might read:
Many thanks for your 3 which I got on 9th. I arrived at Baalbek. We start to-morrow for Palmyra at 6. Shall be camping out till 21st when we return. Go to ?? 23rd – Nazareth 25th – Tabor 26 – Nazareth 27 – on 28 ride to Jenin – 29th to ?? camping for 2 nights – drive from N to Jerusalem on 30th. Write convent ?? ?? Jerusalem. Best wishes for Easter.
Once again, Beirut is having a hard time of it, so I offer this blog as a means to reflect and wish the country and city a more peaceful future.
Dear Hugh, fascinating as ever. The addressee is a Benedictine nun at Stanbrook Abbey, which is closer to Malvern than Worcester. Professed English Benedictine nuns were called “Dame” (monks were Dom). I can’t make out the first name but it will be the name of a saint, I think the surname might be Chichester. The community moved to Yorkshire in the early 2000s and Stanbrook is now a 5* hotel.