George Antonius

George Antonius.

Tombstone of George Antonius at the Orthdox cemetery on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. The epitaph says "heed and awaken, O Arabs"

George Habib Antonius, CBE (hon.) (Arabic: جورج حبيب أنطونيوس‎‎; October 19, 1891 – May 21, 1942) was a Lebanese-Egyptian author and diplomat, settled in Jerusalem, one of the first historians of Arab nationalism. Born in Deir al Qamar in a Lebanese Eastern Orthodox Christian family, he served as a civil servant in the British Mandate of Palestine. His 1938 book The Arab Awakening generated an ongoing debate over such issues as the origins of Arab nationalism, the significance of the Arab Revolt of 1916, and the machinations behind the post-World War I political settlement in the Middle East.

Career

Antonius graduated from Cambridge University and joined the newly formed British Mandate Administration in Palestine as the deputy in the Education Department. His wife, Katy, was a daughter of Faris Nimr Pasha a wealthy Syrian Christian and cultural activist. Antonius had a difficult relationship with the British. Despite his senior position he and his wife were refused membership of the Jerusalem sports club which had a "No Natives" policy.^[1]

He resigned his position in 1930 to join the Institute of Current World Affairs in New York City. He was secretary general to the Arab Delegation to the London Conference (1939).^[2]

Gallery

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  London Conference, St. James' Palace, February 1939. Palestinian delegates (foreground), Left to right: Fu'ad Saba, Yaqub Al-Ghussein, Musa Alami, Amin Tamimi, Jamal Al-Husseini, Awni Abdul Hadi, George Antonius, and Alfred Roch. Facing the Palestinians are the British, with Sir Neville Chamberlain presiding. To his right is Lord Halifax, and to his left, Malcolm MacDonald

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  While writing The Arab Awakening, Antonius was a tenant at the Shepherd Hotel, belonging to the Mufti.

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  George Antonius grave - Eastern Orthodox cemetery on Mount Zion, Jerusalem

References

1. Larsson, Theo (1995) Seven Passports for Palestine. Sixty Years in the Levant. Longfield. ISBN 0-9525-379-0-7. p.27.
2. Khalidi, Walid (1984) Before their Diaspora: A photographic history of the Palestinians, 1876-1948. Institute of Palestine Studies. ISBN 0-88728-143-5. p.290.

External links

• Kramer, Martin (1996) Ambition, Arabism, and George Antonius in Arab Awakening and Islamic Revival: The Politics of Ideas in the Middle East, ed. Martin Kramer (New Brunswick: Transaction, 1996), 112-23.
• Documents of Western Betrayal and Arab Opposition from The Arab Awakening