Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, May/June 1998, Pages 27, 92

Personality

Dr. George Atiyeh: A Legacy of Scholarship, Excellence and Resilience

By Ghada Khouri

Since he suffered a stroke which left him paralyzed and speechless three years ago, Dr. George Atiyeh can no longer speak for himself. But others have plenty to say about him.

Dr. Atiyeh’s achievements through nearly three decades of exemplary service as head of the Near East division of the U.S. Library of Congress were to be be honored May 8 at a Washington, DC fund-raising dinner benefiting the University of Balamand in his native Lebanon. The event not only celebrates the inauguration of the university’s George Atiyeh Seminar Room and Exhibit Space, but also is a way for the university to express its gratitude to this son of northern Lebanon for his tireless endeavors in celebrating the rich cultural heritage of his native land. Among his many accomplishments, George Atiyeh managed to preserve rare manuscripts from the Balamand monastery from destruction during the Lebanese civil war.

Raising awareness of the wealth of Arab contributions to world civilizations is undoubtedly one of his main legacies and a source of inspiration for Middle East scholars everywhere. Although he has maintained a low personal profile throughout his life, his scholarly and intellectual achievements have earned him the respect and admiration of his contemporaries both in the United States and the Middle East.

Born in 1923 as the eldest of 10 brothers and sisters in the small town of Amioun in northern Lebanon, he was driven by a perpetual sense of curiosity about history, culture and literature. He read avidly—first his father’s rich collection of books about the Middle East, then books he bought with his own monthly allowance. His brother Naim, a scholar and professor, remembers him as a “smart and congenial boy” who developed an early fascination with the writings of world-renowned Lebanese-American poet and artist Gibran Kahlil Gibran. In fact, as a youth George emulated his idol by writing short stories—most of which were destroyed during the Lebanese civil war.

When he moved from Amioun to Tripoli to attend an all-boys American high school, his literary talents earned him the nickname “Gibran al-sagheer”—little Gibran. As a sophomore, he transferred with many of his classmates to Aleppo high school in Syria, where he was put in charge of the school library. It was the beginning of a career path that culminated many years later in a prestigious post at the U.S. Library of Congress.

After graduating from high school, George Atiyeh attended the American University of Beirut (AUB), where he earned a bachelor’s degree in history and philosophy and a master’s degree in Arab history. As a student, he was politically active in a variety of causes related to the quest for democracy, justice and a new social order. The intellectual and political discourse of the 1940s was largely shaped by the growing role of nationalist movements, which attained their apogee in those years. These trends induced him to study the issue of national identity as one based on allegiance to the state within the larger context of the Arab nation. This vision was to shape much of his work and reinforce his desire to explore the cultural, historical and political contributions of Arabo-Islamic civilization.

His brother-in-law, Wafa Nasr, a long-time friend of the Atiyehs, recalls being impressed with George Atiyeh’s depth of knowledge and charming modesty. “I was just a freshman at AUB when George was about to graduate,” Wafa says. “And although he knew more than many of us, he was genuinely interested in the ideas and opinions of others. He would always say that a good scholar can learn something from everyone.”

George Atiyeh moved to the United States in 1951 to pursue a Ph.D. in Near Eastern history and cultures at the University of Chicago. Upon successfully completing his doctoral thesis, he married Daisy Roper, a Puerto Rican native pursuing higher scientific studies. They moved to the University of Puerto Rico, where he taught for the next 13 years.

At first, he would prepare his lectures in English and Daisy would help translate them into Spanish. But he quickly surmounted the initial hurdles of adapting to a new language and environment and eventually rose to be chairman of the university’s Humanities Department, overseeing 60 faculty members. Dr. Ethel Rios de Betancourt, then dean of the Faculty of General Studies, praised his ability to lead his department “on a steady course of dedication to academic issues” at a time when conflicting political currents about the status of Puerto Rico as a U.S. territory had led to mounting factionalism. It was neither the first nor the last time that Dr. Atiyeh demonstrated masterful skills at inducing people to work constructively regardless of their political differences.

In 1967, he was invited to head the Near East division of the Library of Congress—an offer he could not refuse, as it would allow him to immerse himself in the region of the world to which he had been passionately committed throughout his life. Relocating to the U.S. national capital and taking on a post with such broad responsibilities was a challenge, but one he welcomed. “Initially, there was some ambivalence about moving,” his wife Daisy says. “But George always looked forward to new horizons.”

During his service in the Library of Congress, he developed and enhanced the library’s holdings on Arab and Muslim history, literature and culture, making it one of the world’s most extensive collections on the Arab and Muslim worlds. Under his tutelage, the library’s collection grew from 15,000 to more than 250,000 volumes. When he arrived, it subscribed to three Arabic publications. The total soon reached 80 daily newspapers, all of which were placed on microfilm, making them easily accessible to scholars and students for generations to come.

George Atiyeh was driven by a sincere desire to affect positive change.

He also collected 1,700 rare manuscripts about Arab history, culture, and Islamic political thought. Locating and acquiring them proved a difficult task, as some countries prohibit the sale of cultural treasures to foreign institutions. More than 1,400 of them were purchased from Professor Mahmoud al Imam al Mansouri of Al Azhar University. Today, these valuable documents are known as the al-Mansouri Collection.

George Atiyeh also built an impressive collection of Arab-American literature, including newspapers and periodicals from all over the United States—some of which he found in the cellars of old houses. He even managed to locate the first Arab-American publication ever published, Kawkab Amrika (The American Star), first issued in the early 1890s, which included the writings of Gibran as he rose into mainstream American literary circles. This collection provides a unique glimpse into the Arab-American immigrant experience.

George Atiyeh’s efforts were not confined to providing countless scholars and students with one of the world’s most outstanding collections of materials on the Arab world. He went beyond the call of duty by constantly seeking ways to build bridges between the two worlds he called home. He established a network of cooperation with libraries throughout the Middle East and organized conferences, seminars and activities which brought together distinguished scholars, poets and historians from the Arab world and North America. Dr. Julian Witherell, his director of 15 years, described him as “a distinguished scholar, an exceptional librarian and a dear friend” whose vision placed a wealth of information on the Arab world at the fingertips of American students, scholars and the public at large.

Throughout his brilliant career, Dr. Atiyeh divided his free time between his wife and three children and his scholarly pursuits. Among his several books, articles and monographs about the Arab world is Al-Kindi: Philosopher of the Arabs, the first book in English about the famous philosopher, mathematician, and geographer, known as one of the greatest minds of the Middle Ages. He also produced a comprehensive annotated bibliography on the Middle East, which has proved an invaluable tool to students of the region.

Although his literary and scholarly achievements are tangible fruits of his hard work, George Atiyeh is not only a man of letters. His pursuit of excellence and integrity has governed all aspects of his life. In everything he has undertaken, the librarian, scholar and author was also a man of action driven by a sincere desire to affect positive change. Never losing sight of his origins, he was relentless in his efforts to promote greater understanding of a region largely misunderstood in the West—an endeavor which earned him the National Cedar Award, one of the highest honors bestowed by the Lebanese government.

Dr. Atiyeh was planning to write his memoirs before he suffered the stroke which has left him debilitated and confined to a wheelchair since 1995. Through it all, Daisy Atiyeh has always been by his side, taking care of her husband of 44 years with love and devotion. As they find strength in each other and the support of their friends and family, they strive to maintain the active lifestyle they shared before his illness prematurely ended his career in the Library of Congress. “George has always accepted whatever God gave him without regrets,” she says. “He has never complained—never. He still reads a lot, in Arabic, English, and Spanish, and keeps abreast of the news.”

In a supreme twist of irony, the man who always loved words has lost the ability to express himself. “It brings tears to my eyes not to be able to communicate with someone with such depth of outlook,” says his loving brother Naim. But despite this personal tragedy, George Atiyeh’s life is one of triumphs. Who he is and what he has accomplished will remain indelible through what he already has said and written, and all that others will continue to say and write about him.

Readers wishing to contribute to Balamand University may send checks payable to the Balamand Educational Foundation—George Atiyeh Fund to L. King-Irani, University of Balamand, 850 North Randolph St., #917, Arlington, VA 22203. Donations are tax-deductible.