Sursock family

Sursock House, Beirut, Lebanon

The Sursock family (also Sursuq) is a Greek Orthodox Christian family from Lebanon. Having originated in Constantinople during the Byzantine Empire, the family has been recorded as living in Beirut since 1714. The family, through lucrative business ventures, savvy political maneuvering, and strategic marriages, embarked on what Leila Fawaz has called “the most spectacular social climb in the nineteenth century,” and, by their peak, had built a close network of relations to the families of Egyptian, French, Irish, Russian, Italian and German aristocracies and a manufacturing, alongside a distribution empire spanning the Mediterranean.[1][2]

The Sursocks are one of Beirut's aristocratic Christian families, along with the Bustros, Ferneini, Araman, Boutros, Trad, and Tueni families and were readily admitted into Ottoman, Egyptian and European high societies. The Sursocks were part of an international bourgeoisie that constantly moved between the cities of Alexandria, Beirut, Cairo, Istanbul, Paris and Rome and are effectively one of the "Seven Families" which define Beirut's aristocratic nobility.[3][4] The Sursocks ultimately became an integral part of an international set that circulated amid Europe's major capitals. Their wealth and sophistication are also reflected in their stunning residences, equal in elegance to any Italian palazzo.[5]

The Sursocks made their fortune in the beginning of the 17th century through their successful manufacturing and transportation empire, which extended from Turkey to Egypt and ultimately to the United Kingdom.[6] Dimitri Sursock was the original founder of the "Sursock and Brothers," a prominent firm in nineteenth century Beirut which acted as an agent for Lascaridi and Company in the 1850s and 1860s and shipped grain to London, Cyprus and throughout Europe. The firm and its assets were subsequently taken over by his seven sons after his death: Nicolas, Khalil, Moussa, Ibrahim, Joseph and George.[7]

In the 17th century, members of the Sursock family served as tax collectors and held other positions on behalf of the Ottoman Empire, allowing them to benefit greatly from the 1858 Ottoman land reforms, during which they acquired large tracts of fertile land in northern Palestine, in addition to their already extensive holdings ranging from Egypt to Beirut.[8] The means by which this Greek-Orthodox Ottoman family came into possession of such particularly palatial real estate were multiple. As a long line of land owners and tax collectors, the Sursocks were able to leverage their finances and capital using their connections to American, Russian, German and French consuls over the decades to establish extensive economic and political connections.[9] The family developed wide social ties and was close to key Ottoman and European figures, frequently playing host to a wide range of royals and diplomats, including King Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia, Emperor William of Germany and Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, amongst other monarchs.[10][11]

In addition to their manufacturing and export activities, the family increased its fortune as landowners in the Ottoman Levant, amassing profits from both rent and tax collection. as well as from the sale of their many properties.[12][13] Their financial activities were wide ranging, and included shipping, silk, and the production of other goods built for transport to London and throughout the region. The Sursocks also became heavily involved in banking in Egypt and Lebanon, where they helped finance major projects including the Suez Canal, the Beirut-Damascus highway, and the Beirut Harbour Company.[14] The family also served as direct creditors to Ismail Pasha and other members of Egyptian royalty, who soon found themselves heavily involved with and indebted to the family.[15] As a result of their extensive financial activities, the family was branded “the Rothschilds of the East,” and indeed engaged the Rothschild banking family during their sale of the Jezreel Valley to the Jewish National Fund.[16]

However, members of the family gained notoriety for taking advantage of the famine in Lebanon during the First World War by selling overpriced basic food supplies,[17] and for selling large swaths of Arab land in Palestine to Jewish settlers who demanded the forceful eviction of the peasant residents.[18][19]

In the wake of the Lebanese Civil War, many members of this old Greek-Orthodox aristocratic dynasty chose to relocate, spreading throughout various European and Asian capitals.

History

For many decades, the Sursocks were Lebanon's leading business family. As business partners of the Otis Elevator Company, they were successful industrialists and played a key role in the development and manufacturing of elevators.[20]

The Sursocks have shaped Lebanon’s history from the late Ottoman period to present; indeed, the selection of Beirut, which would come to be known as the 'Pearl of the Orient,' as the provincial capital was in no small part the result of their entreaties to the Porte.[21]

According to Lady Cochrane Sursock, daughter of Alfred Bey Sursock and Donna Maria Theresa Serra di Cassano, the name is a corruption of Κυριε Ισαακ ("Kyrie Isaac", meaning Lord Isaac).[22] The family left Constantinople at its fall in 1453, settling near Jbail.[23] Towards the close of the 18th century the Sursock family moved to Beirut and subsequently became successful traders, exporting grain from Syria and Turkey to the United Kingdom, while also engaging in the importation of textiles from Europe to be sold throughout the Middle East. Nicolas Sursock founded the Banque Sursock and purchased extensive properties throughout different parts of the Ottoman Empire.[4]

The Sursocks soon became protégés and dragomen to several European and American consul-generals and were afforded political privileges and protection by the various countries with whom they had ties, including Russia and Germany. Moussa Sursock, the 8th Duke of Cassano and father to Alfred Sursock, and his brothers are reported to have travelled on Greek and Russian passports as well as to have gained protégé status with other European consulates in Beirut as a result of their wide-ranging activities.[3] Furthermore, the Sursock's heavy involvement in Egyptian banking allowed the family to form close relations with the Egyptian monarchy, affording them preferential deals on large infrastructural projects and extravagant public works.[3]

The Sursocks′ success was measured by their admission to the highest circles of both the Ottoman and European elite political spheres. They formed close connections with officials in Istanbul, while aristocrats often approached them to intercede on their behalf with the Ottoman government. One sign of their closeness to the sources of Ottoman power was the appointment of Alfred Sursock to the post of secretary at the Ottoman embassy in Paris in 1905, who joined Moussa, Michel and Yusuf Sursock in taking seats within the Ottoman power structure.[5] In addition to connections with Paris, a French report written the following year listed Moussa Sursock as dragoman of the German Consul,[15] and a year later, Mathilde Sursock married Alberto Theodoli, the Italian president of the League of Nations Permanent Mandates Commission, in Paris, thereby extending the family's reach around the Mediterranean.[24][25] Further evidence of the Sursocks' influence can be found in the court accounts recorded under Russian Grand Duke Nicolai Nikolaevich, identifying Nicolas Sursock, who had long maintained a strong relationship with the Duke, as an "Honorary Dragoman" of Russia.

Alfred, meanwhile, moved throughout the titled circles of Europe and married Donna Maria Serra di Cassano, daughter of Francesco Serra, 7th Duke of Cassano, who came from an old Italian princely family.[26] Their daughter Yvonne eventually became Lady Cochrane after marrying Sir Desmond Cochrane, 3rd Baronet.

Michel Sursock, a member of Ottoman parliament, became infamous during the great famine in the First World War for hoarding grain and speculating on the supply. He would not sell the grain, which cost 40 piastres in peacetime, for less than 250 piastres.[8][17]

Assets

Beirut

When Moussa Sursock died in 1890, his grand share of the Sursock family assets was divided amongst his brothers, nephews, wife, three sons and five daughters. The assets left to the family included a wide range of real estate in and around Beirut, Mersin (Adana, Turkey), Tartus (Syria) and Alexandria (Egypt). Moussa also passed on extensive rural holdings, including entire villages in Egypt and Palestine, land situated on Mount Lebanon and a chateau that would become the fashionable resort of Sofar on Mount Lebanon.[3]

The Sursock villa in Sofar, constructed in the early twentieth century by Alfred Sursock for his wife Donna Maria di Cassano, bears original foundation inscriptions that proclaim the wealth of these merchants-turned-aristocrats. Though this Greek Orthodox family of foreign proteges often adopted the style and manners of French and European elite, the Arabic inscriptions indicate deep traces of an Ottoman lineage stretching back centuries.[1]

Rue Sursock, in the Achrafieh district of Beirut, is named after the family, which owned and continues to own many palatial homes on the street, such as Sursock House. Lady Cochrane Sursock, who in 1946 married Sir Desmond Cochrane, is the owner of the Sursock House, plus a vast amount of property along Rue Sursock, up to the fashionable Rue Gouraud.[27] Nicolas Sursock transformed the house into a museum of art and amassed a large collection of art and glass. But it was Lady Cochrane's father, Alfred Bey Sursock, who initially expanded the size of the Sursock palace gardens and contributed most to the collections of art, carpets and other exquisite items, which are amongst the finest and best preserved in the Middle East. The palace is also home to a large collection of Italian artwork from the 16th and 17th centuries, many contemporary Lebanese pieces and antique Lebanese jewelry.[6]

Nicolas Sursock built himself a spectacular private villa in 1912 and decreed in his will that the villa be transformed into a museum after his death. Thus, when he died in 1952 the villa was bequeathed to the city of Beirut. The Sursock Museum collection consists of 5,000 pieces, such as paintings, sculptures, ceramics, glassware, and iconography, all of which date back to the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.[28] The Sursock Museum building embodies Lebanese architecture with its Italianate, specifically Venetian, and Ottoman architectural influences.[29][29] The museum is currently undergoing an extensive US$12 million renovation, which has been designed by French architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte and Lebanese architect Jacques Aboukhaled.[30]

In 1918, the Sursock family financed the building of the Beirut Hippodrome.[31] Alfred Sursock, who funded the endeavor, agreed to a deal with the city of Beirut regarding the development of 600,000 square meters in Beirut's pine forest. The Hippodrome project was to include a public causeway, a movie theater and a casino, in addition to the hippodrome itself. The hippodrome complex was ultimately built in 1921, with the casino eventually becoming the seat of the French Mandate Authorities in Lebanon.[31][32] The Sursocks had also previously built Lebanon's first casino, the Sawfar Grand Hotel, in the late 1880s.[33]

Jezreel Valley

In 1882, a consortium headed by the Sursock family won an Ottoman concession to build a railway across the Jezreel Valley that would create a cheaper route for exporting grain from the Hauran.[34]

The family owned more than 90,000 acres, or 400,000 dunams, (364 km²) in the Jezreel Valley in Palestine, having purchased it from Ottoman authorities in their dealings with the empire.[35][36] Evidence of the extraordinary wealth which had been accumulated by the Sursocks, who already owned tens of thousands of acres of the finest land in Palestine, can be found in records detailing their continued purchases of a number of new villages every year.[37] In 1906, the Sursock family sold land in Palestine to the Jewish National Fund for a sum believed to be nearly three quarters of a million pounds, or roughly USD$120,000,000 when adjusted for inflation.[38][39] The buyers demanded the existing settlers be relocated and as a result, the Arab tenant farmers were controversially evicted without compensation.[40]

See also

Notable Members

Alfred Sursock married Donna Maria Teresa Serra, daughter of Francesco Serra, 7th Duke of Cassano. His first cousin Nicolas married Alfred′s sister-in-law Donna Vittoria Serra of the Dukes di Cassano, also a daughter of the Duke. Nicolas′ eldest sister married Marchese Alberto Theodoli, and his youngest, Isabelle, married the head of the Colonna family, an ancient Roman family whose history spans nine hundred years.[41][42]

Isabelle Sursock fell in love with Prince Marcantonio who brought her to Italy, where she was able to integrate successfully into Roman society at a time when it was up against the rise of Mussolini. Isabelle married Prince Marcantonio in 1909 and subsequently became Princess Isabelle of Colonna. After the fall of the monarchy, Isabelle effectively replaced Jose Maria as a “substitute queen”, hosting regal receptions, where royalty and, among the bourgeoisie, only financiers and bankers were allowed.[43] Donna Isabelle, as she then became known, occupied a prime position amongst the élite of Roman Society throughout her long life up to the 1980s, and was a lady of great intelligence and power who intensely guarded the artistic collection of the family throughout the darkest periods of both World Wars. She and her husband were immensely loyal to the Holy See, so much so that she was given the rare honor of Vatican citizenship.[44] She never abandoned her Palace, which she so profoundly loved, and continued to weave her diplomatic skills at the highest level, receiving heads of state and royalty from half the world. Narrowly escaping arrest by the Neofascists, Isabelle dedicated her life to preserving the uppermost the interests and image of the family.

Catherine Aleya Beriketti Sursock, who was born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1938 and was formerly the wife of Lebanese aristocrat Cyril Sursock (son of Nicolas Sursock and Donna Vittoria Serra of the Dukes di Cassano), married Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan in November 1972 in the British West Indies.[45] His father, Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah, Aga Khan III is said to have traced his bloodline to the Prophet Muhammad and was the leader of the Ismailis, who form the second largest branch of Shia Islam The Prince's marriage to Catherine brought with it three stepsons: Alexandre Sursock, who married Thai Princess Mom Rajawongse Charuvan Rangsit Prayurasakdi, Marc Sursock and Nicolas Sursock.[46]

Alexandre Sursock, son of Cyril Sursock, married Princess Mom Rajawongse Charuvan Rangsit of Thailand (by Mom Nalini) on 9 September 1978.[47]

Michel Sursock was a member of Ottoman parliament and a dragoman to the Persian Empire, having been granted the title "Senator of the Empire." [48] Similarly, Moussa, Michel-Ibrahim and Yusuf Sursock all served as members of Ottoman parliament for a number of years, beginning in 1912.[48]

George Moussa Sursock had developed close ties with a wide variety of rulers and members of Europe's monarchy, from Franz Joseph of Austria to William of Germany and Luis Prince of Battenberg. Moussa was also involved in Freemasonry, as is evidenced in archives and letters addressed to the Grand Orient in Paris, dated April 1906, as well as in other sources such as "Les Grades Families." [49]

Cairo’s most famous restaurant entrepreneur, Nisha Sursock, was also a member of the prominent Greek Orthodox family.[50]

Sursock Archives

The halls of the Sursock Palace contain the historical archives of the Sursock family empire. The archives, which are divided into three categories (public, private, and commercial-accounting) primarily span from the years 1876 to 1978 and record the activities of Alfred, Moussa, Nicolas, Princess Isabelle, Lady Yvonne and other particularly prominent members of this small Greek-Orthodox family.[48] [51]

An extensive study on the archives and the family itself can be found in Lorenzo Trombetta's 'The Private Archive of the Sursocks (Sursuqs), A Beirut Family of Christian Notables: An Early Investigation.'

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sursock family.
  1. 1 2 "Ghosts of Lebanon's Past". Stambouline.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  2. ↑ Tombetta, Lorenzo. THE PRIVATE ARCHIVE OF THE SURSUQS, A BEIRUT FAMILY OF CHRISTIAN NOTABLES: AN EARLY INVESTIGATION.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Moussa Sursock". Flikr. Retrieved 2015-11-11.
  4. 1 2 "Heirs of Europe". heirsofeurope.blogspot.com. heirsofeurope. Retrieved 09/11/2015. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  5. 1 2 "Merchants and migrants in nineteenth-century Beirut". cosmos.ucc.ie. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  6. 1 2 "Sursock: Ashrafieh’s prettiest palace". blog.samabeirut.com. Retrieved 2015-11-11.
  7. ↑ "Khalil Sursock".
  8. 1 2 "SURSUQ FAMILY". encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2015-11-11.
  9. ↑ "Ghosts of Lebanese Summers Past". stambouline.com.
  10. ↑ Zachs, Fruma (2005). The Making of a Syrian Identity. Brill. ISBN 90-04-14169-3. Check date values in: |access-date= (help);
  11. ↑ Trombetta, Lorenzo. THE PRIVATE ARCHIVE OF THE SURSUQS, A BEIRUT FAMILY OF CHRISTIAN NOTABLES: AN EARLY INVESTIGATION. p. 224.
  12. ↑
  13. ↑ "What happened in village of Afouleh (Palestine) in 1920?". adonis49.wordpress.com.
  14. ↑ "The Making Of A Syrian Identity". friendfeed-media.com. Brill Academic Publishers. Retrieved 10/11/2015. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  15. 1 2 Trombetta, Lorenzo. THE PRIVATE ARCHIVE OF THE SURSUQS, A BEIRUT FAMILY OF CHRISTIAN NOTABLES: AN EARLY INVESTIGATION.
  16. ↑ "Hani Jean Samaha". How a new publishing house in Beirut is opening doors to a hidden world.
  17. 1 2 Spagnolo (ed.). Problems of the Middle East in Historical Perspective. p. 249.
  18. ↑ (French) Beirut how you've changed ... or have you?
  19. ↑ MidEastWeb The Report of Sir John Hope Simpson, 1930
  20. ↑ Saudi Aramco World : Made In: Lebanon
  21. ↑ "Ghosts of Lebanese Summers Past". Stambouline.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  22. ↑ Lady Cochrane Sursock: Information and Much More from Answers.com
  23. ↑ William Dalrymple (1997). From the Holy Mountain. p. 241. ISBN 0-00-654774-5.
  24. ↑ "Alberto Theodoli". cosmos.ucc.ie. Retrieved 2015-12-15.
  25. ↑ "Mathildhe Sursock". geneall.net. Retrieved 12/11/15. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  26. ↑ "Moussa Sursuq". cosmos.ucc.ie. Retrieved 12/11/15. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  27. ↑ (French) Gemmayzeh : is the quarter becoming 'less and less convivial'?
  28. ↑ Guides.hotelbook.com, Events Guide: Sursock Museum (Sursock Museum, Beirut, Lebanon)
  29. 1 2 Daratalfunun.org
  30. ↑ "Sursock Museum". lonelyplanet.com.
  31. 1 2 Mannheim, Ivan. Syria & Lebanon Handbook: The Travel Guide, page 409
  32. ↑ Gebran, Yacoub. "Hippodrome". Dictionnaire de l'architecture au Liban au XXème siècle. Alphamedia. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
  33. ↑ "AFTERNOONS WITH THE SURSOCKS: SAWFAR & BEIRUT". bambisoapbox.com. Retrieved 10/11/2015. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  34. ↑ Land of Progress: Palestine in the Age of Colonial Development, 1905-1948, Jacob Norris
  35. ↑ Dr. Seth J. Frantzman, Ruth Kark Bedouin Settlement in Late Ottoman and British Mandatory Palestine: Influence on the Cultural and Environmental Landscape, 1870-1948, p.8. 2011
  36. ↑ "Zionist Land Broker". islam.ru. Retrieved 12/11/15. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  37. ↑ "LIFE IN MODERN PALESTINE". archive.org.
  38. ↑ (French) Beirut how you've changed ... or have you?
  39. ↑ "Historical UK Inflation Rates Calculator". stephenmorley.org.
  40. ↑ MidEastWeb The Report of Sir John Hope Simpson, 1930
  41. ↑ "Sursuq Family". cosmos.ucc.ie.
  42. ↑ "Francesco Serra 7th Duke of Cassano". geneall.net.
  43. ↑ "Princess Isabelle Apartment". galleriacolonna.it.
  44. ↑ "Colonna Family". galleriacolonna.it.
  45. ↑ "RANGSIT ROYAL FAMILY". members.iinet.net.au. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  46. ↑ "Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, U.N. Commissioner, and Mrs. Sursock Married". The New York Times (The New York Times Company). 28 November 1972. p. 56. Retrieved 13 October 2010. (subscription required)
  47. ↑ members.iinet.net.au http://members.iinet.net.au/~royalty/states/thailand/thailand_rangsit.html. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  48. 1 2 3 Trombetta, Lorenzo. THE PRIVATE ARCHIVE OF THE SURSUQS, A BEIRUT FAMILY OF CHRISTIAN NOTABLES: AN EARLY INVESTIGATION. p. 205.
  49. ↑ THE PRIVATE ARCHIVE OF THE SURSUQS, A BEIRUT FAMILY OF CHRISTIAN NOTABLES: AN EARLY INVESTIGATION. p. 224.
  50. ↑ El Amrani, Issandr (2004-02-27). "Lebanese Played a Crucial Role in Shaping Modern Egyptian Culture". The Daily Star.
  51. ↑ d'Arc Taylor, Stephanie. "Beirut's legendary museum rises from the ashes". Guardian. The Guardian. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
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