Editing George Antonius

{{Short description|Lebanese author, historian, and diplomat (1891–1942)}}
{{Expand Hebrew|topic=bio|date=January 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox philosopher
| name             = George Antonius<br>{{Nobold|{{lang|ar|جورج أنطونيوس}}}}
| image            = G. Antonius.jpg
| image_size       = 220px
| birth_date       = {{Birth date|1891|10|19|mf=y}} 
| birth_place      = [[Deir al-Qamar]], [[Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate]], [[Ottoman Empire]]
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|1942|05|21|1891|10|19|mf=y}}  
| death_place      = [[Jerusalem]], [[Mandatory Palestine]]
| region           = [[Eastern Mediterranean]]
| school_tradition = [[Arab nationalism]]
| main_interests   = History, literature
}}
[[File: George Antonius.JPG |thumb|right|Tombstone of George Antonius at the Orthodox cemetery on [[Mount Zion]] in [[Jerusalem]]. The epitaph says "Heed and awaken, O Arabs".]]
'''George Habib Antonius''', [[Order of the British Empire|CBE]] (hon.) ({{langx|ar|جورج حبيب أنطونيوس}}; October 19, 1891{{spnd}}May 21, 1942) was a [[Lebanese people|Lebanese]] author and diplomat who settled in [[Jerusalem]]. He was one of the first historians of [[Arab nationalism]]. Born in [[Deir al-Qamar|Deir al Qamar]] to a Lebanese [[Eastern Orthodox Christianity in Lebanon|Eastern Orthodox Christian]] family, he served as a civil servant in the [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate of Palestine]].<ref name="The Worlds of George Antonius">{{cite book |last1=Cleveland |first1=William |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-62114-9_9 |title=Auto/Biography and the Construction of Identity and Community in the Middle East |date=2001 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan US |isbn=978-1-349-62114-9 |location=New York |page=126 |chapter=The Worlds of George Antonius |doi=10.1007/978-1-349-62114-9_9 |access-date=18 April 2021}}</ref> 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 [[Arab world]]. In the book, he raised concern about the fate of religious coexistence in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] in the face of [[Zionism|Zionist]] colonization, while also recognizing the horror of anti-Jewish [[Nazism]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Makdisi |first=Ussama Samir |title=Age of coexistence: the ecumenical frame and the making of the modern Arab world |date=2019 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-97174-5 |location=Oakland, California |pages=185}}</ref>

== Early life and career ==
Antonius was born on October 19, 1891 to an [[Lebanese Greek Orthodox Christians|Eastern Orthodox]] [[Arabs|Arab]] family in the [[Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate|Lebanese]] village of [[Deir al-Qamar]]. He was brought up in [[Alexandria]], [[Khedivate of Egypt|Egypt]], where his father, Habib Antonius, was already well established.<ref name="The Worlds of George Antonius" />[[File:Sir Gilbert Clayton and George Antonius (in white suit) with King Abdul Aziz ibn Saud (centre), Jedda c 1925..jpg|thumb|Sir Gilbert Clayton and George Antonius (in white suit) with King Abdul Aziz ibn Saud (centre), Jedda c 1925.]]
After graduating from [[Victoria College, Alexandria|Victoria College]] in Alexandria, Antonius attended [[King's College, Cambridge|King's College]] at [[Cambridge University]] from 1914 to 1930, where he joined the British civil service first in Egypt and then Mandatory Palestine.<ref name="The Worlds of George Antonius" /> He then became the deputy in the Education Department in Mandatory Palestine. In 1925, Antonius joined [[Gilbert Clayton]] in the newly formed [[Saudi Arabia]], as his translator and advisor in the negotiations to agree on the boundaries of Saudi Arabia<ref>University of Oxford. St Antony's College. Middle East Centre. George Antonius Collection. Fonds level description. [https://www.sant.ox.ac.uk/mec/MEChandlists/GB165-0011-George-Antonius-Collection.pdf Biographical history: Antonius, George Habib (1891–1942)]</ref> with [[Mandatory Iraq|Iraq]], [[Emirate of Transjordan|Transjordan]] and [[Kingdom of Yemen|Yemen]].<ref>[http://www.empire.amdigital.co.uk/Documents/Details/CO%20935_1_7 Report by Sir Gilbert Clayton, K.B.E., C.B., C.M.G., on his missions to negotiate certain agreements with the Sultan of Nejd, and instructions issued to him in regard to his mission], National Archives, 25 November 1925, CO 935/1/7</ref>

He resigned his position in 1930 to become the Middle East field representative of the [[Institute of Current World Affairs]] in [[New York City]]. He was secretary general to all the Arab delegations to the [[London Conference of 1939]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Khalidi |first=Walid |author-link=Walid Khalidi |title=Before their Diaspora: A photographic history of the Palestinians, 1876–1948 |publisher=Institute of Palestine Studies |year=1984 |isbn=0-88728-143-5 |page=290}}</ref>

Antonius was a follower of Hajj [[Amin al-Husseini]], the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. He acted as a [[liaison officer]] for al-Husseini in negotiations between [[Palestinians|Palestinian]] Muslims and the Catholic Church to reach an [[Anti-Zionism|anti-Zionist]] agreement. Antonius was among the first Arabs to promote pro-Arab positions regarding the [[Arab–Israeli conflict|Arab-Israeli conflict]] in universities in the [[United States]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kaufman |first=Menahem |date=1986 |title=George Antonius and American Universities: Dissemination of the Mufti of Jerusalem's Anti-Zionist Propaganda 1930–1936 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23883385 |journal=American Jewish History |volume=75 |issue=4 |pages=386–396 |issn=0164-0178}}</ref>
==Philosophy==
{{Unreferenced section|date=April 2025}}
Antonius traced Arab nationalism to the reign of [[Mehmet Ali Pasha]] in Egypt. He argued that the Arab nation (which consists of racial and cultural-linguistic elements) has been "dormant" for centuries and that [[Protestant]] [[missionaries]] from the United States had a specific role in the renewal and "awakening" of the Arabic as a national language. He saw the role of the [[American University of Beirut|Syrian Protestant College]] as central to this development, although he notes that later on, by the end of the 19th century, that role has diminished, since the college initiated instruction in English. By then the torch of the movement had been passed to Arab intellectuals residing in the [[Syria (region)|region of Syria]] and in Europe and to Arab officers in the Ottoman army who formed a secret society to ultimately promote Arab nationalist interests. These officers proved particularly useful later during World War I after the leadership of the movement openly shifted allegiance to support the Entente. Other than tracing the birth of the Arab national movement, Antonius also argued that it was Great Britain that dishonored its prior commitments to the Arabs and instead pursued its own colonial interests at the expense of what Antonius calls the "true will of the people," namely unity and independence of the would-be Arab state.

==Personal life==
Antonius was the son-in-law of [[Faris Nimr]] who was a Lebanese journalist and founder of the newspaper ''[[Al Muqattam]]''.<ref>{{cite book
|author=Ann M. Lesch|editor=Philip Mattar|title=Encyclopedia of the Palestinians|year=2005|publisher=Facts on File, Inc.|location=New York|page=22|chapter=Antonius, George|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GkbzYoZtaJMC&pg=PA22|isbn=978-0-8160-6986-6}}</ref> His wife, who he married in 1928, [[Women's literary salons and societies in the Arab world#Katy Antonius' Salon (Jerusalem)|Katy Nimr]], was a daughter of [[Faris Nimr]], a wealthy Lebanese Christian and cultural activist. Antonius had a difficult relationship with the British. Despite his senior position he and his wife were refused membership in the Jerusalem sports club which had a "No Natives" policy.<ref>{{cite book |last=Larsson |first=Theo |title=Seven Passports for Palestine. Sixty Years in the Levant |publisher=Longfield |year=1995 |isbn=0-9525-379-0-7 |page=27}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
An annual lecture is given in his memory at [[St Antony's College, Oxford]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Mehrez |first=Samia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dFIEiYjW9rwC&dq=george+antonius+memorial+lecture&pg=PA75 |title=Egypt's Culture Wars – Politics and Practice |publisher=American University in Cairo Press |year=2010 |isbn=9789774163746}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:LondonConference1939.jpg|London Conference, St. James' Palace, February 1939. Palestinian delegates (foreground), Left to right: Fu'ad Saba, [[Yaqub al-Ghusayn|Yaqub Al-Ghussein]], [[Musa Alami]], Amin Tamimi, [[Jamal Al-Husseini]], [[Awni Abdul Hadi]], [[George Antonious|George Antonius]], and [[Alfred Roch (Palestinian leader)|Alfred Roch]]. Facing the Palestinians are the British, with Sir [[Neville Chamberlain]] presiding. To his right is [[Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax|Lord Halifax]], and to his left, [[Malcolm MacDonald]].
File:MuftiHouse.jpg|While writing ''The Arab Awakening'', Antonius was a tenant at the [[Shepherd Hotel]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kessler |first=Oren |title=Palestine 1936: The Great Revolt and the Roots of the Middle East Conflict |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2023 |isbn=978-1538148808 |location=Lanham MD |pages=56-57}}</ref>
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{cite journal | author1 = Antonius, G.| authorlink1=George Antonius| author2 = Nomico, Ch. A. | title = A Brief Account of the Painted tile Work in the Armenian Cathedral of St James| url = https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.73308| journal = Jerusalem 1920–1922  | location = London | year = 1924 | pages =[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.73308/page/n78 57]-60}}
*{{cite book |last1=Silsby Boyle |first1=Susan |title=Betrayal of Palestine: The Story of George Antonius |date=2001 |publisher=Westview Press |location=Boulder, CO, USA |isbn=0813337593}}

==External links==
* Antonius, George. [https://archive.org/details/McGillLibrary-rbsc_isl_arab-awakening_DS636A461939-16015 ''The Arab awakening: the story of the Arab national movement'']. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1939.
*[[Martin Kramer|Kramer, Martin]] (1996) ''[http://www.martinkramer.org/sandbox/reader/archives/ambition-arabism-and-george-antonius/ 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.
*[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gltPcRrPrY_sa-HR3g3kLD2RnirfCXzWOZ-32dtaz0k/edit Documents of Western Betrayal and Arab Opposition from ''The Arab Awakening'']

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Antonius, George}}
[[Category:People from Chouf District]]
[[Category:Greek Orthodox Christians from Lebanon]]
[[Category:Lebanese emigrants to Mandatory Palestine]]
[[Category:20th-century Lebanese historians]]
[[Category:Historians of the Middle East]]
[[Category:Honorary commanders of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:1891 births]]
[[Category:1941 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of King's College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Lebanese Arab nationalists]]