Louis Cheikho
Louis Cheikho | |
|---|---|
| Born | Feb. 5, 1859 |
| Died | 1927 |
| Occupation(s) | Priest, Professor, Theologian and Researcher |
Louis Cheikhô, or Sheikho, Arabic: لويس شيخو, born Rizqallâh Cheikhô, (b. 1859 d. 1927) was an ethnic Assyrian Orientalist and Theologian. He is considered as a major contributor and pioneer of the rediscovery of the Eastern Rite Christian heritage.
Biography
Louis Cheikho was born in Mardin, Iraq on February 5, 1859 [1]. His father was an ethnic Assyrian of the Chaldean Catholic tradition whose family had been based at Mardin for at least three centuries. His mother was an Armenian named Elizabeth Schamsé, who took him on pilgrimage to the Holy Land aged 9.
Early life
In 1868, Cheikhô joined his brother at the Maronite Jesuit Seminary in Ghazîr, Lebanon. At this date, the seminary was not merely preparing young men for the priesthood, but also acted as a secondary college for young Christian men. Both groups followed a similar syllabus. There, he learned both ancient and modern European and Semitic languages.
In 1874 he took the name Louis and joined the Jesuit seminary at Lons-le-Saunier, France. After two years he became a priest.
In 1878, he returned to Lebanon and taught Arabic Literature at the Jesuit Saint Joseph College in Beirut for 10 years. During this period, Cheikho continued his studies of philosophy at Université Saint-Joseph, Beirut.
In 1888, Cheikho travelled to Great Britain where he continued theological studies for 4 years then spent one year in Austria and another year in Paris. Those extended European stays allowed him to acquire the academic methodologies that helped him in his later works.
Finally in 1894, he settled in Beirut, Lebanon, where he continued his academic career at Université Saint-Joseph.
Louis Cheikho died in Beirut in 1927.
Cheikho is perhaps the founder of modern publications of unpublished Eastern Christian texts, especially Christian Arabic texts. He also founded, in 1898, the journal Al-Machriq, and contributed many articles and publications to its pages.
His work was an inspiration for CEDRAC.
Works
- Anciens traités arabes : contenant La politique de Themistius, L'économie domestique de Probus (?), Les récits amusants de Barhebraeus et L'exclusion de la tristesse, attribué à Platon. publiés par Louis Cheikho. Beyrouth : Impr. catholique, 1920-23. 68 p.
- Vingt traités théologiques d'auteurs arabes chrétiens, IXe-XIIIe siècle, publiés par le P. Louis Cheikho avec le concours des P.P. Louis Malouf et Constantin Bacha. Edition Deuxième édition augmentée. Beyrouth, Imprimerie Catholique, 1920. 148 p. Main text in Arabic, preface in French.