Sursock family: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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{{Short description|Greek Orthodox Christian family in Beirut}}

[[File:Khalil Sursock.jpg|thumb|Khalil Sursock, 1882]]

The '''Sursock family''' (also spelled '''Sursuq''') is a [[Greek Orthodox Christianity in Lebanon|Greek Orthodox Christian]] family from [[Lebanon]], and used to be one of the most important “Seven Families”families of [[Beirut]]. Having originated in [[Constantinople]] during the [[Byzantine Empire]],<ref>{{Cite untiljournal [[Fall|last=Trombetta of(Ph.D.) Constantinople|1453]],first=Lorenzo or|date=2009-01-01 from|title=The Private Archive of the Greek-OrthodoxSursuqs, villagea Beirut Family of [[BerbaraChristian Notables: An Early Investigation |Barbara]]url=https://www.academia.edu/30973213 near|journal=Rivista [[Jubail]],Degli Studi Orientali}}</ref> the family has lived in Beirut since at1712, leastwhen 1832,<ref>Trombettatheir forefather Jabbour Aoun (2009who later adopted the family name Sursock), pleft the village of [[Berbara]]. 200</ref>After whenthe turn of the 19th century, they began to establish significant positions of power within the [[Ottoman Empire]]. The family, through lucrative business ventures, savvy political maneuvering, and strategic marriages, embarked on what Leila Fawaz called "the most spectacular social climb of the nineteenth century," and, at their peak, had built a close network of relations to the families of Egyptian, French, Irish, Russian, Italian and German aristocracies, alongside a manufacturing and distribution empire spanning the [[Mediterranean]].<ref name=Ghosts>{{cite web|title=Ghosts of Lebanon's Past|url=http://www.stambouline.com/2014/08/ghosts-of-lebanese-summers-past.html|website=Stambouline.com|accessdate=2015-11-12}}</ref><ref name="Trombetta 2009, p. 224">Trombetta (2009), p. 224</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Sursock House|url=https://sursockhouse.com|publisher=Sursock}}</ref>

==Overview==

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[[File:A Sursocks Villa.jpg|thumb|250px|Sursock Villa]]

The Sursocks were one of Beirut's aristocratic Christian families that moved freely in Ottoman, Egyptian and European high societies. The Sursocks were an integral part of an international bourgeoisie centered in [[Alexandria]], [[Beirut]], [[Cairo]], [[Constantinople]], [[Paris]] and [[Rome]]. They were one of the "Seven Families" in Beirut's aristocratic nobility.<ref name=Moussa>{{cite web |title=Moussa Sursock |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/fouadgm/5021964602 |website=FlikrFlickr
|via= [https://www.flickr.com/people/fouadgm/ Dr. Fouad Gehad Marei], Flickr blog |access-date=2015-11-11 |date=2010-05-07}}</ref><ref name=Heirs>{{cite web|title=Heirs of Europe|url=http://heirsofeurope.blogspot.com/2010/05/sursock.html|website=heirsofeurope.blogspot.com|publisher=heirsofeurope|accessdate=2015-11-09|date=2010-05-18}}</ref>{{self-published inline|date=October 2017}}{{better source needed|date=June 2020}} Their wealth and sophistication are also reflected in their residences, equal in elegance to any Italian ''palazzo'', which remained largely unscathed despite fifteen years of mortar fire and violence during the [[Lebanese Civil War]].<ref name=cosmos>{{cite web|title=Merchants and migrants in nineteenth-century Beirut|url=http://cosmos.ucc.ie/cs1064/jabowen/IPSC/php/art.php?aid=152780|website=cosmos.ucc.ie|accessdate=2015-11-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=May 2, 2016 |title=The Eternal Magic of Beirut |url=http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/t-magazine/travel-beirut-architecture-art-design.html |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

In the 17th century, members of the Sursock family served as tax collectors and held other key positions on behalf of the [[Ottoman Empire]]. As a result, they benefitted greatly from the [[Ottoman Land Code of 1858|1858 Ottoman land reforms]], during which they acquired large tracts of fertile land in Palestine and Syria, in addition to extensive holdings from Egypt to Beirut.<ref name=FAMILY>{{cite web|title=Sursuq Family|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3424602596.html|website=encyclopedia.com|accessdate=2015-11-11}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Granott |first=A. |year=1952 |title=The Land System in Palestine: History and Structure |url=https://archive.org/details/landsysteminpale0000agra/page/80/mode/1up |publisher=Eyre & Spottiswoode |location=London |page=80}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ghosts of Lebanese Summers Past|url=http://www.stambouline.com/2014/08/ghosts-of-lebanese-summers-past.html|website=stambouline.com}}</ref>

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 [[Ibn Saud|King Abdul Aziz]] of [[Saudi Arabia]], [[William I, German Emperor|German Emperor William I]], Turkish Sultan [[Abdul Hamid II]] and [[Franz Joseph I of Austria|Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria]], amongst other monarchs.<ref name=Zachs>{{cite book |last=Zachs |first=Fruma |year=2005 |title=The Making of a Syrian Identity: Intellectuals and Merchants in Nineteenth Century Beirut |url=https://archive.org/details/makingsyrianiden00zach |url-access=limited |location=Boston |publisher=Brill Academic Publishers |pages=[https://archive.org/details/makingsyrianiden00zach/page/n71 54], 239|isbn=9789004141698 |oclc=875757770 }} Search for "Sursuq".</ref><ref> name="Trombetta (2009), p. 224<"/ref>

The Sursocks built their fortune through their successful manufacturing and transportation empire, which extended from [[Turkey]] to [[Egypt]] and ultimately to the [[United Kingdom]].<ref name=sama>{{cite web|title=Sursock: Ashrafieh's prettiest palace|url=http://blog.samabeirut.com/destination/sursock-ashrafieh's-prettiest-palace|website=blog.samabeirut.com|accessdate=2015-11-11}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=June 2020}}<ref name=Gratien>{{cite book|last1=Gratien|first1=Christopher|title=Ecology and Settlement in Late Ottoman and Early Republican Cilicia, 1856–1956|date=July 29, 2015}}</ref>

Dimitri Sursock was the founder of "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.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}} The firm and its assets were subsequently taken over by his sons after his death: Nicolas, Moussa, Loutfallah, Khalil, Ibrahim and Joseph.<ref>{{cite web |title=Khalil Sursock |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/fouadgm/5021346621 |date=2010-05-07 |via= [https://www.flickr.com/people/fouadgm/ Dr. Fouad Gehad Marei], Flickr blog |access-date=2015-11-11}}</ref>

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. Based in Beirut, the family owned many properties along the Mediterranean region, and, for over one hundred years, the Sursocks owned a significant amount of real estate in the heart of Mersin, Turkey, including many shops and properties in the eponymous Sursock Quarter of the city.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rosegeorge.com/frameworks/generic/public_users/morearticles.asp?ArticleID=51 |title=Rose George |website=www.rosegeorge.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021105145048/http://www.rosegeorge.com/frameworks/generic/public_users/morearticles.asp?ArticleID=51 |archive-date=2002-11-05}} </ref><ref>{{cite web|title=What happened in village of Afouleh (Palestine) in 1920?|url=https://adonis49.wordpress.com/tag/sursock-family/|website=adonis49.wordpress.com}}</ref><ref name=Gratien/> Their financial activities were wide-ranging, and included shipping and the production of silk and 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.<ref name=Zachs/> The family also served as direct creditors to [[Isma'il Pasha|Ismail Pasha]] and other members of Egyptian royalty, who soon found themselves heavily involved with and indebted to the family.<ref> name="Trombetta (2009), p. 224<"/ref> As a result of their extensive financial activities, the family was branded "the Rothschilds of the East," and indeed engaged the [[Rothschild family|Rothschild]] banking family during their sale of the [[Jezreel Valley]] to the [[Jewish National Fund]] in 1906.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hani Jean Samaha|url=http://the-polyglot.blogspot.com/2011/01/hani-jean-samaha.html|website=How a new publishing house in Beirut is opening doors to a hidden world|date=2011-01-02}}</ref> The Sursocks are recorded as having been deeply intertwined in Freemasonry at the time, under the Grand Orient of France, with many speculating on the reasons behind the family's rise. George Dimitri Sursock, Worshipful Master of the Grand Orient lodge, recorded his extensive dealings with, and on behalf of, the masonry.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sommer|first1=Dorothe|title=Freemasonry in the Ottoman Empire: A History of the Fraternity and Its Influence in Syria and the Levant}}</ref>

However, members of the family also gained notoriety for taking advantage of the famine in Lebanon during the First World War by selling overpriced basic food supplies,<ref name=Spagnolo>{{cite book|editor-last=Spagnolo |title=Problems of the Middle East in Historical Perspective|page=249}}</ref> and for selling large swaths of Arab land in Palestine to Jewish settlers, who demanded the oftentimes forceful eviction of the peasant residents.<ref>{{in lang|fr}} [http://www.1stlebanon.net/lebanon-news/news.php?idactu=825&debut=0 Beirut how you've changed ... or have you?<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.mideastweb.org/hopesimpson.htm MidEastWeb The Report of Sir John Hope Simpson, 1930<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

In the wake of the [[Lebanese Civil War]] many members of the family relocated to various European and Asian capitals, but [[Lady Cochrane Sursock]] remained in Beirut as the family matriarch. Despite the vast damage to Beirut during the conflict, the main Sursock residence lies untouched alongside buildings whose outer walls bear scars caused by years of violence.<ref>{{cite webnews|title=The Eternal Magic of Beirut|url=http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/t-magazine/travel-beirut-architecture-art-design.html|websitenewspaper=InternationalThe New York Times|publisherdate=The2 NewMay York Times Company2016|last1=Specter|first1=Michael}}</ref>

==History==

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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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ghosts of Lebanese Summers Past|url=http://www.stambouline.com/2014/08/ghosts-of-lebanese-summers-past.html|website=Stambouline.com|accessdate=2015-11-12}}</ref>

According to [[Lady Cochrane Sursock]], daughter of [[Alfred Bey Sursock]] and Donna [[Maria Teresa Serra di Cassano]], the name is a corruption of Κυριε Ισαακ ("Kyrie Isaac", meaning Lord Isaac).<ref name=Answers>[http://www.answers.com/topic/lady-cochrane-sursock Lady Cochrane Sursock: Information and Much More from Answers.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>{{better source needed|date=June 2020}} {{citation needed span|The family left [[Constantinople]] at [[Fall of Constantinople|its fall]] in 1453,|date=June 2020}} settling near [[Byblos]].<ref>{{cite book|title=From the Holy Mountain|year=1997|isbn=0-00-654774-5|page=241|author=William Dalrymple|author-link=William Dalrymple (historian)}}</ref>{{dubious|date=June 2020}} Other sources list the name as having been derived from the Arabic phrases for "secrets" and "market."

Towards the close of the 18th century the Sursock family then moved to Beirut where they subsequently became successful traders, exporting grain from the east Mediterranean to the United Kingdom, whilst also engaging in the import of textiles from Europe to be sold throughout the Middle East. Nicolas Sursock founded the Banque Sursock et Frères in 1858 and purchased extensive properties throughout different parts of the Ottoman Empire.<ref name=Heirs/>

The Sursocks soon became protégés and dragomen to numerous European and American consulconsuls-generalsgeneral and were afforded political privileges and protection by the various countries with whom they had ties, including [[Russia]], [[Germany]], [[Greece]], [[Ireland]] and the United States of America. Moussa Sursock, {{Citation needed span|the 8th Duke of [[Cassano all'Ionio|Cassano]],|date=September 2022}} his brothers and his father Alfred 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.<ref name=Moussa/> Furthermore, the Sursocks' heavy involvement in Egyptian affairs allowed the family to form close relations with members of the monarchy including Khedive [[Sa'id of Egypt]], who reigned from 1854 to 1863, and his nephew [[Isma'il Pasha]] (1863-18791863–1879), affording them preferential deals on large infrastructural projects and extravagant public works.<ref name=Moussa/>

[[File:The Pine Residence in 1918.jpg|thumb|Alfred Sursock's Pine Residence]]

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 Constantinople, while aristocrats often approached them to intercede on their behalf with the Ottoman government. One sign of their intimacy with 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 then joined Moussa, Michel and Yusuf Sursock in taking seats within the Ottoman power structure.<ref name=cosmos/> In addition to connections with Paris, a French report written the following year listed Moussa Sursock as [[dragoman]] of the German Consul,<ref> name="Trombetta (2009), p. 224<"/ref> and a year later, Mathilde Sursock married Alberto Theodoli, the Italian president of the [[Permanent Mandates Commission|League of Nations Permanent Mandates Commission]], in Paris, thereby extending the family's reach around the Mediterranean.<ref>{{cite web|title=Alberto Theodoli|url=http://cosmos.ucc.ie/cs1064/jabowen/IPSC/php/authors.php?auid=50109|website=cosmos.ucc.ie|accessdate=2015-12-15}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Mathildhe Sursock|url=http://geneall.net/en/name/164296/mathilde-sursock/|website=geneall.net|accessdate=November 12, 2015}}</ref> 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 court, as an "Honorary Dragoman" of Russia.

Alfred, meanwhile, moved throughout the titled circles of Europe and married Donna Maria Teresa Serra di Cassano, daughter of Francesco Serra, 7th Duke of Cassano, who came from an old Italian princely family from Naples.<ref>{{cite web|title=Moussa Sursuq|url=http://cosmos.ucc.ie/cs1064/jabowen/IPSC/php/authors.php?auid=7156|website=cosmos.ucc.ie|accessdate=November 12, 2015}}</ref> Their daughter [[Lady Cochrane Sursock|Yvonne]] would be known as Lady Cochrane after marrying [[Desmond Cochrane|Sir Desmond Cochrane]], 3rd Baronet, bearing four children.

Michel Sursock, a deputy to the 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.<ref name=FAMILY/><ref name=Spagnolo/>

=== Land sales to early Zionist settlement ===▼

{{main| Sursock Purchases}}▼

[[File:The Sursock Purchase shown on the Palestine Index to Villages and Settlements, showing Land in Jewish Possession as at 31.12.44.jpg|thumb|The [[Sursock Purchases]] (see red dotted circle) illustrated on a map of [[Jewish land purchase in Palestine]] as at 1944; the dark blue represents land then owned by the [[Jewish National Fund]], of which most in the circled area had been acquired under the Sursock Purchases.]]▼

The family owned more than 90,000 acres, or 400,000 dunams, (364&nbsp;km²) in the Jezreel Valley in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], having purchased it from Ottoman authorities in their dealings with the empire.<ref name="Frantzman">Dr. Seth J. Frantzman, Ruth Kark [http://www.brismes.ac.uk/nmes/archives/268 Bedouin Settlement in Late Ottoman and British Mandatory Palestine: Influence on the Cultural and Environmental Landscape, 1870-1948], p.8. 2011</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Zionist Land Broker |url=http://islam.ru/en/content/story/zionist-land-broker-memoirs-palestinian-land-owners-nakba|website=islam.ru |accessdate=November 12, 2015 |website=islam.ru}}</ref> Evidence of the remarkable concentration of wealth accumulated by the Sursocks, who already owned tens of thousands of acres of the finest land in the region, can be found in records detailing their sustained purchases of numerous new villages every year.<ref>{{cite web |year=1887 |title=LIFE IN MODERN PALESTINE |url=https://archive.org/stream/haifaorlifeinmo00olipgoog/haifaorlifeinmo00olipgoog_djvu.txt |website=archive.org}}</ref>▼

In 1872, the Ottoman Government sold Marj ibn Amir ([[Esdraelon]] Valley) to the Sursock family of Beirut. The Zionists began to show interest in buying the Jezreel Valley in 1891, but the [[Palestine Land Development Company]] (PLDC), a Zionist land purchasing agency, made its first purchases in 1910. In 1897, [[TheodoreTheodor Herzl]] writes about the Sursock family in his diary, noting the onset of negotiations with the Jewish Colonisation Organization for the purchase of 97 villages in Palestine.<ref>''The Complete Diaries of Theodor Herzl,'' ed. Raphael Patai, Herzl Press and Thomas Yoseloff, New York-London, vol.2, p.519.</ref>▼

In ancient times Esdraelon was the granary, and regarded as the most fertile tract of Palestine. The Sursocks were absentee landlords in the vast Marj Ibn `Amer (Jezreel Valley) in Northern Palestine. The Jewish National Fund was founded in 1901 by funding from the Baron to buy and develop land in Ottoman Palestine for Jewish settlement.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Glass |first1=Joseph |title=From New Zion to Old Zion. American Jewish Immigration and Settlement in Palestine, 1917-1939. |publisher=Wayne State University Press}}</ref> The PLDC acquired land for the Jewish National Fund (JNF). Official purchasing organizations such as the Palestine Land Development Company focused on consummating the transfer of some 65,000 dunams of land in the Jezreel Valley owned by the Sursocks. On 18 December 1918, the PDLC concluded an agreement with Nagib and Albert Sursock for the purchase of 71,356 dunams in the Jezreel Valley, including [[Tel Adashim]]. The Ottomans tried to limit mass land acquisition and immigration, but had their hands tied by European pressure and also corruption and greed of officials and large landowners. The sale of land in Marj ibn Amer is a noted case.<ref name="Alfred">{{cite web |titledate=7 May 2010 |title=H.B. Bustros and Sursock-Cochrane Mausoleum, Mar Mitr Cemetery |viaurl= [https://www.flickr.com/peoplephotos/fouadgm/5021385867 |access-date=27 February 2021 |via=Dr. Fouad Gehad Marei], Flickr blog |url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/fouadgm/5021385867 |access-date= 27 February 2021}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=February 2021}}<ref>{{cite web |date=15 December 2011 |title= Mausoleum of the Sursock-Cochrane and Bustros families. |date= 15 December 2011 |via= blog.dnevnik.hr |url= https://blog.dnevnik.hr/american-recovery-and-investme/2011/12/1629708693/become-rich-by-investing-become-rich.html?page=blog&id=1629708693&subpage=0&subdomain=american-recovery-and-investme |access-date= 27 February 2021 |via=blog.dnevnik.hr}}{{better source| needed|date= February 2021}}</ref> Hankin of the [[Jewish National Fund|KKL]] transacted the final settlement of purchase in 1921. [[Yehoshua Hankin|Hankin]] originally worked for the PLDC and then became the main land speculator for both agencies.<ref>{{in lang|fr}} [http://www.1stlebanon.net/lebanon-news/news.php?idactu=825&debut=0 Beirut how you've changed ... or have you?<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Historical UK Inflation Rates Calculator |url=http://inflation.stephenmorley.org/ |website=stephenmorley.org}}</ref> The buyers demanded the existing settlersnatives be relocated and as a result, the Arab tenant farmers were evicted, with some receiving compensation the buyers were not required by law to pay.<ref>[https://unispal.un.org/DPA/DPR/unispal.nsf/0/E3ED8720F8707C9385256D19004F057C Hope Simpson Report]</ref> Because the villagers paid [[tithe]]s to the Sursock family in [[Beirut]] for the right to work the agricultural lands in the villages, they were deemed tenant farmers by the [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate]] authorities in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], and the right of the Sursock family to sell the land to the JNF was upheld by the authorities.▼

==Assets==

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===Sursock House and Rue Sursock, Beirut===

[[File:Sursock Palace in Achrafieh, Beirut.jpg|thumb|[[Sursock House]] in Beirut, Lebanon]]

[[Rue Sursock]], in the [[Achrafieh]] district of [[Beirut]], is named after the family, which owned and continues to own 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]], as well as a vast amount of property along [[Rue Sursock]], up to the fashionable [[Rue Gouraud]].<ref>{{in lang|fr}} [http://www.1stlebanon.net/lebanon-news/news.php?idactu=830&debut=0 Gemmayzeh : is the quarter becoming 'less and less convivial'?<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> [[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 jewelryjewellery.<ref name=sama/>

===Nicolas Sursock villa in Beirut (museum)===

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===Jezreel Valley Railway===

In 1882, a consortium headed by the Sursock family won an Ottoman concession for the construction of a [[Jezreel Valley Railway|railway]] across the [[Jezreel Valley]]. The family sought to build a railway there both to raise land value around the line, which was mostly family-owned, and to enjoy economies of scale in the transport of goods from the [[Hauran]], also owned by the family, to the Mediterranean Sea for export.

In 1883, Sir [[Laurence Oliphant (author)|Laurence Oliphant]] founded a company along with [[Gottlieb Schumacher]], one of the founders of the German Colony of Haifa, to find investors for attaining a construction permit for the Sursock family, and capital for the construction itself.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=hV9zeYpzCawC&pg=PA48 Land of Progress: Palestine in the Age of Colonial Development, 1905-19481905–1948, Jacob Norris]</ref>

On June 13, 1883, early surveying work was completed and Oliphant began to look for investors, both in Britain and Germany. In a letter he wrote to the [[George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 3rd Duke of Sutherland|Duke of Sutherland]], Oliphant claimed that the construction of the line was extremely important both politically and economically, that it would eventually serve as the connection between Asia Minor, the Fertile Crescent, and Egypt, and expressed fear that the line would be under sole German ownership. Oliphant and his peers advertised the line as extremely profitable for investors, estimating the gain at 34%, and promising additional permits to construct additional extensions, a modern port in Haifa or Acre, and a shipping company. For that purpose, Oliphant purchased additional lands on Haifa's coast, and in the Megiddo area. Despite these efforts, the plans failed — the British government, the only one interested in the project, sent the Duke of Sutherland to inspect it, who refused to help sponsor the project. The Lebanese families headed by Mr. Sursock, who wished to build the railway for their personal needs, instead saw their permit and subsequent deposit with Sultan [[Abdul Hamid II]] expire two years later.

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[[File:Sursock Family Lineage.jpg|thumb|right|Sursock lineage since 1712]]

'''Michel Sursock''' was a high-ranking member of Ottoman parliament and a senior dragoman to the Persian Empire, having been granted the title "Senator of the Empire."<ref name="Trombetta 2009, p. 205">Trombetta (2009), p. 205</ref>} Similarly, Moussa, Michel-Ibrahim and Yusuf Sursock all served as members of Ottoman parliament for a number of years, beginning in 1912.<ref> name="Trombetta (2009), p. 205<"/ref>

'''Girgi Dimitri Sursock''' (1852-19131852–1913), married Marie Assad Zahar and was [[dragoman]] at the German General Consulate in Beirut. He was decorated with the [[Order of Osmanieh]]. He published several books, including ''Tarikh al-Yunan'' and ''Kitab al-ta'lim al-adabi''. He was in contact with many intellectuals of [[al-Nahda]], but also with foreign scientists, including the orientalist Martin Hartmann.<ref>Saïd Chaaya, ''Lettres de Girgi Dimitri Sursock à Martin Hartmann: La diplomatie allemande dans la Beyrouth ottomane'', Paris, Geuthner, 2018.</ref> Freemason, he was for many years the Worshipful Master of "Le Liban" Lodge in Beirut.

'''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 Louis 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 Grandes Families." <ref>{{cite book|title=The Private Archive of the Sursuqs, a Beirut Family of Christian Notables: An Early Investigation|pages=224}}</ref>

'''Alfred Bey Sursock''' married [[Don (honorific)|Donna]] Maria Teresa Serra, daughter of Francesco Serra, 7th [[Palazzo Serra di Cassano|Duke of Cassano]]. His daughter Yvonne married the British aristocrat [[Desmond Cochrane|Sir Desmond Cochrane, 3rd Bart.]] and became known as [[Lady Cochrane Sursock]]. His first cousin once removed Nicolas married Alfredhis wife's sister-in-law [[Don (honorific)|Donna]] Vittoria [[Palazzo Serra di Cassano|Serra of the Dukes di Cassano]], also ayounger daughter of the 7th Duke di Cassano. Nicolas′ eldest sister Mathilde married Marchese Alberto Theodoli, and his youngest, Isabelle, married Prince Marcantonio Colonna, the head of the Colonna family, anone of the most ancient Roman family whose history spans nine hundred years.<ref>{{cite web|title=Sursuq Family|url=http://cosmos.ucc.ie/cs1064/jabowen/IPSC/php/authors.php?auid=36780|website=cosmos.ucc.ie}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Francesco Serra 7th Duke of Cassano|url=http://geneall.net/en/name/516493/francesco-serra-7th-duke-of-cassano/|website=geneall.net}}</ref>

'''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 [[Don (honorific)|Donna]] Vittoria [[Palazzo Serra di Cassano|Serra of the Dukes di Cassano]]), married [[Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan]] in November 1972 in the [[British West Indies]].<ref>{{cite web|title=RANGSIT ROYAL FAMILY|url= http://members.iinet.net.au/~royalty/states/thailand/thailand_rangsit.html|website=members.iinet.net.au|accessdate=2015-11-12}}</ref> (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 [[Isma'ilism|Ismailis]], who form the second largest branch of [[Shia Islam]]). The Prince's marriage to Catherine brought with it three sons: Alexandre Sursock, who married Thai ''[[Mom Rajawongse]]'' Charuvan Rangsit Prayurasakdi, Marc Sursock and Nicolas Sursock.<ref name=NYT1972>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/11/28/archives/prince-sadruddin-aga-khan-un-commissioner-and-mrs-sursock-married.html |title=Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, U.N. Commissioner, and Mrs. Sursock Married |work=The New York Times |date=28 November 1972 |page=56 | accessdate=13 October 2010 }} {{subscription required}}</ref>

'''Alexandre Sursock''', son of Cyril Sursock, married Princess Mom Rajawongse Charuvan Rangsit of [[Thailand]] (by Mom Nalini) on 9 September 1978.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://members.iinet.net.au/~royalty/states/thailand/thailand_rangsit.html|website=members.iinet.net.au|title=Thailand - Rangsit}}</ref>

'''Michail (Michael) Sursock''' is a leading figure in Asia's Private Equity and financial sphere, where he continues to serve as an adviser to numerous companies, having built his name as a leader of several multinational businesses across Europe, America and Asia. Michail has spent time as CEO of KKR Capstone for Asia Pacific, as a Managing Director at Motorola Inc, and as a President with Mars across three continents.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bloomberg |website = [[Bloomberg News]]|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=263361414&privcapId=113338}}</ref> Additionally Mr. Sursock is an Advisor and Speaker at the Tuck School of Leadership Dartmouth and a member of its Asia Advisory Board. He is also a member of the Marshall Goldsmith Leadership 100.

'''Robert Sursock''', over many decades, established himself as a premier banker in Paris and beyond, having built and grown such institutions as PrimeCorp Finance, Gazprombank Invest Mena and Banque Arabe et Internationale d'Investissement.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bloomberg |website = [[Bloomberg News]]|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=65931403&privcapId=84146106}}</ref>

Cairo's most famous restaurant entrepreneur, '''Nicha Sursock''', the co-owner of world-renowned restaurant and bar "L'aubergine", is also a member of the prominent Greek Orthodox family,<ref>{{cite news|last=El Amrani|first=Issandr|title=Lebanese Played a Crucial Role in Shaping Modern Egyptian Culture|newspaper=The Daily Star|date=2004-02-27}}</ref> while Cici Tommaseo Sursock was a renowned artist having hosted exhibitions throughout the world, including in Lausanne, Beirut, Cairo, New York, Rome.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Sursock|first1=Cici|title=cici sursock biography|url=http://www.cicisursock.com/bio.php|website=cicisursock.com}}</ref>

'''Isabelle Hélène Sursock''' fell in love with and wed Prince {{Interlanguage link multi|Marcantonio VII Colonna|it}}, who brought her to Italy, where she was able to integrate successfully into Roman high society at a time when it had to deal with [[Mussolini]]. After the end of the monarchy in 1946 Princess Isabelle effectively replaced [[Marie José of Belgium|queenQueen Marie José]] as the substitute queen of Italy, hosting regal receptions where royalty, aristocracy and, among the bourgeoisie, only financiers and bankers were allowed.<ref>{{cite web|title=Princess Isabelle Apartment|url=http://www.galleriacolonna.it/en/appartamento-p-ssa-isabelle/|website=galleriacolonna.it}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Van Allen |first=Susan |year=2014 |title=50 Places in Rome, Florence and Venice Every Woman Should Go: Includes Budget Tips, Online Resources, & Golden Days |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WKvoBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT54 |publisher=Travelers' Tales |pages=54– |isbn=978-1-60952-097-7}}</ref> [[Don (honorific)|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. She 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. {{Citation needed span|She shielded persecuted Jews and resisted the fascists wherever possible.|date=September 2022}} She and her husband were immensely loyal to the [[Holy See]], so much so that she was given the rare honor of [[Vatican City|Vatican]] citizenship.<ref>{{cite web|title=Colonna Family|url=http://www.galleriacolonna.it/en/i-colonna/|website=galleriacolonna.it}}</ref>

The "alternate queen," as she was known in Italy's elite circles, never abandoned her palace ([[Palazzo Colonna]]), which she so profoundly loved, and continued to weave her diplomatic skills at the highest level,<ref>{{cite web |title=Soroptimists in Rome Visit the Apartment of Isabelle Colonna |url=http://www.soroptimistinternational.org/soroptimists-in-rome-visit-the-apartment-of-isabelle-colonna/ |website=Soroptimist International |accessdate=27 December 2016|date=2012-10-05 }}</ref> receiving heads of state and royalty from half the world. Narrowly escaping arrest by the Neofascists,{{dubious|What?! After the original Fascists, there never was a Neofascist government in Italy capable of arresting anyone. Unsourced. Pls explain.|date=date=March 2021}} Isabelle dedicated her life to preserving the uppermost interests and image of the family.{{cncitation needed|date=March 2021}}

==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 Cochrane and other particularly prominent members of this small Greek-Orthodox family.<ref> name="Trombetta (2009), p. 205<"/ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=d'Arc Taylor|first1=Stephanie|title=Beirut's legendary museum rises from the ashes|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/oct/07/beirut-sursock-museum-reopening|accessdate=14 December 2015|agency=The Guardian|publisher=Guardian}}</ref>

An extensive study on the archives and the family itself can be found in Lorenzo Trombetta's [https://www.jstor.org/stable/41913265?seq=32#page_scan_tab_contents 'The Private Archive of the Sursocks (Sursuqs), A Beirut Family of Christian Notables: An Early Investigation.']

▲==Land sales to early Zionist settlement==

▲{{main| Sursock Purchases}}

▲[[File:The Sursock Purchase shown on the Palestine Index to Villages and Settlements, showing Land in Jewish Possession as at 31.12.44.jpg|thumb|The [[Sursock Purchases]] (see red dotted circle) illustrated on a map of [[Jewish land purchase in Palestine]] as at 1944; the dark blue represents land then owned by the [[Jewish National Fund]], of which most in the circled area had been acquired under the Sursock Purchases.]]

▲The family owned more than 90,000 acres, or 400,000 dunams, (364&nbsp;km²) in the Jezreel Valley in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], having purchased it from Ottoman authorities in their dealings with the empire.<ref name=Frantzman>Dr. Seth J. Frantzman, Ruth Kark [http://www.brismes.ac.uk/nmes/archives/268 Bedouin Settlement in Late Ottoman and British Mandatory Palestine: Influence on the Cultural and Environmental Landscape, 1870-1948], p.8. 2011</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Zionist Land Broker|url=http://islam.ru/en/content/story/zionist-land-broker-memoirs-palestinian-land-owners-nakba|website=islam.ru|accessdate=November 12, 2015}}</ref> Evidence of the remarkable concentration of wealth accumulated by the Sursocks, who already owned tens of thousands of acres of the finest land in the region, can be found in records detailing their sustained purchases of numerous new villages every year.<ref>{{cite web|title=LIFE IN MODERN PALESTINE|url=https://archive.org/stream/haifaorlifeinmo00olipgoog/haifaorlifeinmo00olipgoog_djvu.txt|website=archive.org}}</ref>

▲In 1872, the Ottoman Government sold Marj ibn Amir ([[Esdraelon]] Valley) to the Sursock family of Beirut. The Zionists began to show interest in buying the Jezreel Valley in 1891, but the [[Palestine Land Development Company]] (PLDC), a Zionist land purchasing agency, made its first purchases in 1910. In 1897, [[Theodore Herzl]] writes about the Sursock family in his diary, noting the onset of negotiations with the Jewish Colonisation Organization for the purchase of 97 villages in Palestine.<ref>''The Complete Diaries of Theodor Herzl,'' ed. Raphael Patai, Herzl Press and Thomas Yoseloff, New York-London, vol.2, p.519.</ref>

▲In ancient times Esdraelon was the granary, and regarded as the most fertile tract of Palestine. The Sursocks were absentee landlords in the vast Marj Ibn `Amer (Jezreel Valley) in Northern Palestine. The Jewish National Fund was founded in 1901 by funding from the Baron to buy and develop land in Ottoman Palestine for Jewish settlement.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Glass |first1=Joseph |title=From New Zion to Old Zion. American Jewish Immigration and Settlement in Palestine, 1917-1939. |publisher=Wayne State University Press}}</ref> The PLDC acquired land for the Jewish National Fund (JNF). Official purchasing organizations such as the Palestine Land Development Company focused on consummating the transfer of some 65,000 dunams of land in the Jezreel Valley owned by the Sursocks. On 18 December 1918, the PDLC concluded an agreement with Nagib and Albert Sursock for the purchase of 71,356 dunams in the Jezreel Valley, including [[Tel Adashim]]. The Ottomans tried to limit mass land acquisition and immigration, but had their hands tied by European pressure and also corruption and greed of officials and large landowners. The sale of land in Marj ibn Amer is a noted case.<ref name=Alfred>{{cite web |title= H.B. Bustros and Sursock-Cochrane Mausoleum, Mar Mitr Cemetery |via= [https://www.flickr.com/people/fouadgm/ Dr. Fouad Gehad Marei], Flickr blog |url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/fouadgm/5021385867 |access-date= 27 February 2021}}</ref>{{better source|date=February 2021}}<ref>{{cite web |title= Mausoleum of the Sursock-Cochrane and Bustros families. |date= 15 December 2011 |via= blog.dnevnik.hr |url= https://blog.dnevnik.hr/american-recovery-and-investme/2011/12/1629708693/become-rich-by-investing-become-rich.html?page=blog&id=1629708693&subpage=0&subdomain=american-recovery-and-investme |access-date= 27 February 2021}}{{better source| date= February 2021}}</ref> Hankin of the [[Jewish National Fund|KKL]] transacted the final settlement of purchase in 1921. [[Yehoshua Hankin|Hankin]] originally worked for the PLDC and then became the main land speculator for both agencies.<ref>{{in lang|fr}} [http://www.1stlebanon.net/lebanon-news/news.php?idactu=825&debut=0 Beirut how you've changed ... or have you?<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Historical UK Inflation Rates Calculator|url=http://inflation.stephenmorley.org/|website=stephenmorley.org}}</ref> The buyers demanded the existing settlers be relocated and as a result, the Arab tenant farmers were evicted, with some receiving compensation the buyers were not required by law to pay.<ref>[https://unispal.un.org/DPA/DPR/unispal.nsf/0/E3ED8720F8707C9385256D19004F057C Hope Simpson Report]</ref> Because the villagers paid [[tithe]]s to the Sursock family in [[Beirut]] for the right to work the agricultural lands in the villages, they were deemed tenant farmers by the [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate]] authorities in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], and the right of the Sursock family to sell the land to the JNF was upheld by the authorities.

==References==

Line 110 ⟶ 113:

==Bibliography==

*{{cite journal|last1=Trombetta|first1=Lorenzo|title=The Private Archive of the Sursuqs, a Beirut Family of Christian Notables: An Early Investigation|journal=Rivista degli studi orientali, Nuova Serie|volume=82, Fasc. 1/4|year=2009|issue=1/4|pages=197-228197–228|jstor=41913265|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41913265|access-date=27 February 2021}}

==External links==

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[[Category:Sursock family| ]]

[[Category:Lebanese business families|Sursock]]

[[Category:Political families of Lebanon]]

[[Category:Greek Orthodox Christians from Lebanon]]

[[Category:Eastern Orthodox Christians from Lebanonfamilies]]

[[Category:Members of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch]]