Daniel Bliss
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Part of a series on Protestant missions to the Middle East |
|
 |
|
| minarets of Cairo | |
|
Background |
|
|
People |
|
|
Missionary agencies |
|
Daniel Bliss (August 17, 1823 – July 27, 1916) was the founder of the American University of Bierut. Born in the town of Georgia, Vermont, he was one of seven children in his household. His parents were Loomis and Susanna Bliss. His mother died when Daniel was only nine years old. Bliss spent much of his youth in the state of Ohio. He began to support himself at the age of sixteen mainly by farming, tanning, and tree grafting. He graduated from Kingsville Academy in 1848 and went on to attend Amherst College. Once he graduated from Amherst in 1852, Bliss went on to attend Andover Theological Seminary to prepare for foreign and overseas missions. By October of 1855, he was ordained at Amherst and in November of the same year he was married to Abby Maria Wood.
After being assigned to Syria by the American Board, he and his wife sailed from Boston, Massachusetts, in December of 1855. By April, 1856, they had arrived at their destination in Aleih, Lebanon. Bliss and his wife worked there for roughly one and a half years in a small school which had opened in 1943. Under his direction, the school grew rapidly and became one of some significance in the area. From October of 1858 until 1862, Bliss was in charge of a boarding school in a town just north of Aleih called Souk-al-Gharb. His success there led the Syrian mission to open a new college in Lebanon. Bliss got the project chartered in 1864 by New York State. To obtain funds, he toured the United States and the United Kingdom.
Once he had accumulated enough money, he founded the Syrian Protestant College. The school opened in Beirut in 1866. This school later came to be known as the American University of Beirut (AUB). Bliss was named president of the college he had founded and also took on the responsibilities of treasurer and Professor of Bible and Ethics. A building in the The AUB and a well-known street in Beirut were named after him. He resigned in 1902 and was succeeded by his son, Howard Bliss.
Daniel Bliss died on July 27, 1916.
[edit] External links
 |
This biographical article about a United States activist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
