Iraqi Christian Contributions
Top row, from left: Dr Anna Sttian, Abd Al-Masih Wazir, Anstas Mary Al-Karmali, Behnam Abu Alsouf and Dr. Nouri Yousif Mary. Second row, from left: Dr. Siranoush Al-Raihani, Dr. Suad Yousif Mary, Gorgees Awwad, Minister Yousif Ghaniema and Munir Bashir
By Adhid Miri, PhD
Part II
We continue our story from the May 2023 issue covering the contributions, the experiences, the challenges, and the ups and downs of a community that was and continues to be part of the diverse Iraqi community. Unfortunately, the same sad story and plight of Iraqi Jews, Yazidis, Mandeans, Armenians, Assyrians, and Chaldeans in the 20th century is now being repeated in the 21st century.
Iraq is not Iraq if we exclude from its collective memory major Christian enlightenment figures such as historians, academics, scientists, doctors, lawyers, writers, journalists, archeologists, artists, and poets. With so many to recognize, I am sure there will be names missing but will do my best to acknowledge them all.
The Renaissance Scholars
Some names worth mentioning here are the prominent archeologist Fuad Safar, who was the General Director of Antiquities in Baghdad from 1960 until 1978, and Georges Hanna Awad, historian and Library Director.
Renaissance music masters include Munir Basheer, Jameel Basheer, Hanna Petrus, Saeed Shabo, Peatris Ohanisian, Wadeea Khonda, Nadhum Naiem, Jameel Jerjees and others.
Some culture, language, and history scholars of the Renaissance are Anstas Mary Al-Karmali, Fr. Louis Marmarchi, Fr. Sulaiman Al-Saiegh, Jirjees Fathallah, Mikhael Awad, Yousif Hormis Jammo, Yousif Mary, Yousif Habbi, and Putrus Haddad.
Teachers and Educators
Christian teachers were famous for their deep knowledge, diligent performance, credibility, and love for their profession. Entire Iraqi generations were brought up by Christian educators and educational institutions. They instilled the love of science and knowledge in thousands of students.
Notably, Dr. Matti Aqrawi, who was the first president of the University of Baghdad from the Christians of Mosul, is credited with pioneering compulsory education in Iraq.
Dr. Hanna Behnam Khayyat was appointed the first minister of health in the modern Iraqi state in 1922. He was also the first Iraqi dean of the Iraqi Royal Medical College (1934).
Dr. Nouri Yousif Mary — my father — was born in Baghdad in 1928 and I am proud to say he was the first Iraqi dean of the College of Pharmacy at Baghdad University in 1959.
Journalists and Writers
Journalism in a free state is very different from journalism in an occupied one. These Christian journalists braved the condemnation of the ruling party.
Maryam Nerma is a well-known journalist who was born in Baghdad in 1890. Born Maryam Raphael Youssef Romaya, she was unusual in that she was sent to elementary school; at that time, education for girls was not a priority. In an interview, she shared that her mother told her at age 5 never to marry but to learn as much as she could.
After her first article was published in the Dar Al-Salam newspaper in 1921, Mariam learned that her article was the first written by a woman, thus making her the first female journalist in the history of Iraq. In 1937, she published a newspaper called The Arab Girl. She died in 1972.
It is worth noting that The Arab Girl Newspaper was not the first Iraqi newspaper focused on women’s rights; Layla Newspaper, founded by Paulina Hassoun in 1923, was the first. However, Layla was mocked for its poor writing standards, short-sightedness, and poor editing. The Arab Girl was the first Iraqi newspaper with high journalistic standards that was completely managed by women, from writing to distribution.
Mikhael Tessie was the author of the first comic journal and Nadhum Putros, a lawyer, was the first broadcaster in Iraq in the royal era.
Rose Francis was a brilliant writer who conducted research in home economics, history, and sociology. The Ministry of Education in Iraq sent her to the American University in Beirut to complete her studies. She studied for one year, then traveled to England to specialize in educational and psychological sciences.
Doctors/Medicine
Dr. Malak Razouk Ghanam, born in Baghdad in 1907, is known as the first female doctor in Iraq. She is the daughter of journalist Razouk Daoud Ghannam, who encouraged his daughter to buck convention. Malak became the first Iraqi female to join the Medical College since its establishment in 1927; she graduated in 1939.
However, Dr. Suleiman Ghazala, born in 1853, is known as the first Iraqi doctor to practice in the modern sense. He came from Mosul and studied in Paris.
Dr. Anna Sttian, born in Baghdad in 1914, is one of the first Iraqi female doctors appointed by the Ministry of Health. An Armenian Christian, she was the daughter of the lawyer Kirub Sttian.
Dr. Siranush Al-Rayhani completed her primary education in Mosul and entered the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Baghdad in 1945, graduating in 1950. She is considered the first Iraqi female doctor to graduate from the Faculty of Medicine in Baghdad because Anna Sttian, an Armenian who graduated before her, was from from Beirut. Al-Rayhani was a gynecologist who is still remembered by many Iraqis for her work promoting women’s health and education.
Dr. Suad Yousif Mary was born in 1933 and graduated from Baghdad University College of Medicine in 1959. She served in Erbil, Kirkuk, and Baghdad.
More Firsts
Josephine Sema’an Ibrahim Haddad is known as the first Iraqi woman to obtain a pilot’s license in 1949 and is generally considered the first Iraqi woman to fly a plane in Iraq. Another Josephine, Josephine Ghazaleh, is reportedly the first Iraqi female engineer from Mosul.
Beatrice Ohanessian was an Iraqi Armenian pianist, noted as Iraq’s first concert pianist and first female composer. Dr. Abdullah Kassir, the first Iraqi doctor to obtain a specialty from London, was a Christian from Mosul. Jerjees Aziza was the owner of the first printing and publishing company in Baghdad in 1938.
Faraj Basmachi was a professor, archeologist, and director of the Iraqi Museum. Yousif Yacqoub Miskoni was a Chaldean historian and researcher. Abd al-Masih Wazir excelled in literature and translation and was distinguished as a pioneer in the development of the Arab military dictionary, which remains to this day. The king of Iraq’s photographers were Aboush & Aboush.
The Minister of Finance, Youssef Rizq-Allah Ghanima, his wife, the activist Victoria Andrea, and their son Harith Ghanima, lawyer, writer, and trade activist, were three blazing suns that illuminated the paths of knowledge and culture and were known for their integrity and dedication to Iraq.
Rani Bashir Sarsam is recorded as the first Iraqi female to obtain a master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Michigan in the United States. She worked as a teacher at Queen Alia College in Baghdad.
Notable
Dr. Margaret Bashir Sarsam was a leading gynecologist in Iraq, born in 1926. In Kirkuk, she established a hall for gynecology and a hall for childbirth, when her father, Dr. Bashir Sarsam, was the head of the health department there.
Among the well-known doctors is Dr. Krikor Astarjian, who has published books in Arabic on Armenian history and culture. Dr. Hagop Ghobanian was a dermatologist and co-founder of the Red Crescent. He also helped found the College of Medicine in Iraq and was awarded the Iraqi Royal Medal (Mesopotamia Order of the Second Class) in 1954 in recognition of his services in the field of medicine. Other notables include Dr. Karnik Hovhannisyan, Dr. Gara-Beit, and Dr. Moses from Mosul.
Dicko Andreos Al-Asfandiar was a famous and distinguished dentist in Baghdad. His private clinic was in the police tunnel area.
Iraqi Armenians
Armenian Christians played an important role in Iraqi society, and they were distinguished by their vitality, industrious skills, and efforts, through which they rendered great services to society over a long period of history.
The ancient relations of Armenia and Iraq extends to the fifth century BC. Iraq, with its rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, was distinguished by its moderate climate and important geography. The entry of Christianity into Iraq in the first and second centuries AD came to characterize its religious diversity, rarely found in other countries.
The Armenians used to transport goods across the Euphrates River by boat to Babylon, where they were sold. Many of these merchants and other Armenians settled in Babylon forming a large Armenian community. Thereafter, waves of Armenians came to Iraq through Iran. They settled in southern Iraq at first, and an Armenian Diocese was established in Basra in 1222 AD.
The largest waves of Armenian immigration to Iraq were in the early twentieth century, after massacres committed against them in Armenia and Turkey forced them out.
The Late Renaissance
The Islamic and Christian cultures coexisted in Iraq for centuries.
The city of Mosul, Iraq is the home of Eastern Christianity and the center of Eastern theology. The historic presence of bishoprics and churches of several denominations of Eastern Christians, whether they are Jacobite, Syriac Orthodox, Chaldean, or Assyrian, is evidence of its importance.
Many Iraqi metropolitans known worldwide who were highly educated in ecclesiastical and theological sciences came from Mosul, among them Bishops: Andrawis Hanna, Timothous Avram Abboudi, Julius Girges Qandala, Nasser Estephan Doiy, Thomas Rayis, Suleiman Al-Sayegh and Raphael Bidawid; plus Patriarch Zakka Iwaz, Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem I, and Cardinal Ignatius Gabriel, who was considered a main reference for Eastern Christians.
When the national government was established in 1921 in Iraq under King Faisal I, monarchy was established. Iraqi Christians were enjoying their rights and their participation in the state, so there were several representatives, ministers, directors, army officers, lawyers, and even judges.
Historical Lessons
Iraqi Christians have a rich history of traditions, contributions, and services in contemporary Iraq. They remain the true sons of Iraq, among the original inhabitants of Mesopotamia — whether they are Orthodox, Catholic, Chaldean, Syriac, Assyrian, Jacobite, or Armenian.
This long history of Arab Christianity, before and after Islam, leaves no room for doubt about the Christian’s authenticity, capacity, and special place in the Arab identity system that makes up the nation.
The Muslims in Iraq should be proud of Iraqi’s Christians. The archdioceses, churches, monasteries, and hermitages of Iraqi Christianity are among the wealth of the ancient treasures that must be preserved. Iraqi society and laws must ensure and protect the peaceful characteristics, customs and traditions of all communities and not face the tidal waves of violence that threaten the future of Iraq.
Author Faris Kamal Nadhmi stated that, “The Christian minority played the role of the civilized majority in Iraq and the Christians have always been the most civilized majority with their actual practices of values, reason, tolerance, and freedom, in contrast to other societal groups that remained fond to one degree or another of unseen values, monopolizing the truth and guardianship over people’s wills and freedoms.”
Despite all these virtues, Christians of Iraq spent the past twenty years systematically paying the bloody, violent price of the US invasion in 2003 that resulted in the cross-radicalization of two irrationals: colonial capitalism, and Islamic fundamentalism.
The Christians of Iraq—whether they like it or not—are positioned at the heart of this raging conflict alongside their peers of rationalists and the enlightened. What is happening today in Baghdad and the rest of Iraq is a struggle between the values of progress and civilization and the values of fanaticism and pre-civilization. It is a struggle between two cultures, between two social philosophical perspectives, and therefore a cultural and value conflict between two ways of life.
Uncertain Future
The Christians in Iraq have suffered massively from ongoing Western invasions of the region. Ironically, many of these US/UK inspired invasions were strongly supported by Christian Zionists and evangelicals who have done more to displace Christianity, including the native Iraqi Christian community, from its historic birthplace than anyone else.
Clearly what is happening is wrong and the only reason it is being tacitly allowed is people feel it is far away and ‘over there.’ However, hate travels faster than ever in these connected times so nothing stays in one region and ‘over there’ will be ‘everywhere’ at any point.
Until the world wakes up from its politically correct coma, looks to the root cause of ISIS/ISIL, and comes to grip with the facts, violence will continue and likely lead to the end of Christianity in Iraq.
His Beatitude Cardinal Louis Raphaël Sako summed it up well when he addressed Iraqi officials in November 2022 about the transgressions against Iraqi Christians and deliberate exclusion since 2003.
“The list is long,” said Cardinal Sako. “These immoral behaviors will remain in the memory unless they are addressed. In the Nineveh Plain, the concerns of Christians increased so much that they began to emigrate again. I was told Christian families from the Nineveh Plain leave Iraq at a rate of 20 families per month due to the chaos, fragmentation, and favoritism created by sectarian militias.
“How could a Christian or Muslim who believes in God commit such transgressions?
“Who will protect these peaceful Christians who are loyal to their homeland if the state does not protect them? These are painful violations, and they have repercussions on Iraq’s reputation.
“With agony, I say if you do not wish us to remain equal citizens in our country, Iraq, then be honest about it. So that we can manage ourselves before it is too late.”
It is notable that every civilized and historical prosperity was based on peaceful coexistence, and every regression was accompanied by religious or sectarian tension. The Christian citizens of Iraq built Iraq as Iraqis, and today they are unfortunately deprived of their rights and their homeland.
Ultimately the Middle East must transition to a moderate democracy that respects minority law. However, this is so far from the currency cycle of dictatorship and radicalism that it will take generations to achieve that.
The consequences of these events are going to be played out over the next 50 years. Unfortunately, the minorities in Iraq and the Middle East will pay the ultimate price for this transition. It is certain that Christians will be the biggest losers of this uncertain outcome.
Acknowledgement of sources and excerpts from articles by Iraqi historian and writers Dr. Sayyar Al-Jamil, Siroor Mahmoud Mirza, Dr. Omar Al-Kubaisi, Professor Raad Estefan, Nizar Osachi, Faris Kamal Nadhmi, Douglas Martin NY Times, Wikipedia, Facebook, authors Hanna Batatu, Habib Hannona, Kamal Yaldo, Silva Seroubien, and other contributors.