Emile Curmi - from Egypt to England

The following account of Emile's life draws heavily upon an email account written by Donald Curmi on 9th June 2003. Where applicable, I have added my own text which is based upon memories passed on from Antonia's mum, Gio and research conducted by me and by Antonia's cousin, John Auld.

Emile was born in Zagazig, Egypt on 31st May 1894. He was British by birth and never held any other nationality. His birth certificate below shows his name was actually registered as Emiglio. His father, Joseph Curmi, who was a jeweller by profession, had applied for and acquired British nationality. His mother, Teresa Widmar, was from Trieste, which at the time, was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. She was the daughter of a merchant and family legend has it that he was also an aide to Emperor Franz Josef and himself had an aristocratic background. She was a veritable polyglot who could read and write nine languages and merely speak another three. Emile had an older brother Adolph (born in 1892) and a younger brother William (born on 26th October 1896), but most regrettably, later lost touch with the both of them.

William, Adolph and Emile 1907

His mother taught him to read and write Italian instead of German. This was apparently because his father so disliked Germans as to forbid his mother from teaching him German. Emile studied the Koran and thus Classical Arabic at the renowned Al Azhar mosque school in Cairo. Where English was concerned, no comparable centre of learning existed, so he studied the language to a high level through correspondence courses from Oxford University. While still a youngster, his father asked him to review a petition written by a local man that was to be presented to the British Authorities who governed Egypt at the time. Seeing room for improvement, he reworded it. When Lord Kitchener read it, he was struck with its literary quality and wanted to meet the writer whom he presumed to be a learned gentleman. But when presented with Emile, he was astonished at the figure standing before him, who would have been little more than a boy. He was so charmed, that he invited Emile to be a guest for a week on board his yacht.

Emile volunteered into the British Army and saw action as a gunner in the First World War. This took him all over the Middle East in the campaign to end the Ottoman domination of it. He also served as an interpreter, coming into contact with monarchs and many people in high places. Many years later, Emile related a tale of a battle involving the crossing of a river where he saw the river turn red with all the blood spilled.

The Ottoman Empire was defeated and the British occupied Mesopotamia. After the war, Emile was employed by the Political Department of the Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force. The department were charged with the post war division of the region between Britain and France. The French Mandate took over governance of Syria and Lebanon and the British governed what is now Iraq and Jordan. Emile must have been highly regarded as he was mentioned in dispatches twice in 1919: once on 18th February and again on 3rd June.

The British Mandate came into existence in 1921 and its first High Commisioner was a former officer of the British Indian Army by the name of Sir Percy Cox. Cox hand-picked Emile to be his personal secretary. The British installed King Feisal as a puppet monarch. It is said that Emile was acquainted with T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) and he certainly did know Gertrude Bell. Indeed he is mentioned in one her letters dated 29th September 1921.

After his work in the British Army, Emile engaged in various professions. At one time he was editor of the English language paper The Baghdad Times. At another, he was a merchant and in partnership with a man called Ibrahim Ayyeeb. They had a contract to supply the British Army with potatoes. They were prohibited from selling any on the open market. A third partner, a Kurd by the name of Jassim Nariman secretly broke this   agreement and a never-ending court case ensued. Thanks to old fashioned corruption it apparently dragged on endlessly without ever being resolved.

Emile and Asma wedding circa 1928

In around 1928 Emile married a young Lebanese teacher by the name of Asma Kanawaty. The couple had five children together: Giovanna (b. 1930), Eileen (b. 1932), Mafalda (b. 1939), Joseph Donald (b. 1943) and Richard Alexander (b. 1945). The family lived in a large house on Alamein Street in the Battaween district of Baghdad. As his children grew up, they remembered how Emile would entertain guests with many fascinating tales from his earlier life. These included such personages as the "Nakeeb" of the holy city of Najaf, an Islamic cleric and religious leader. He was a apparently very fond of Mafalda, or "Mafilda" as he used to pronounce it and would always ask to see her when he visited. Another guest was the Church of England minister, Reverend Roberts, at whose church the family attended Sunday morning service. On one occasion, Emile apparently shocked the family by asking the reverend whether he believed in God.

During the summer months temperatures in Baghdad frequently exceeded 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Even at night, the heat was stifling and the family slept on frame beds erected on the flat roof of the house. The sky was crystal clear and it was possible to see meteors against an incredible panorama of countless stars. Sometimes the family used to visit an island in the Euphrates river and eat delicious fish cooked over an open fire. They would occasionally travel across the desert to visit Asma's family back in Lebanon.

Family life was interrupted by a pro-Nazi coup which took place in 1941. A group led by Rasheed Ali seized power for a while. The family took refuge in the US Embassy until it was safe to return home. Emile had returned to the house to pick up a few badly needed things and whilst there, foolishly decided to take a bath. He was betrayed by a long known servant who had promised his loyalty to him as well as having seemed to be trustworthy. Emile was arrested and had to spend a short period of time in a concentration camp until the coup was overthrown. It was a worrying time for his wife Asma and the children as they didn't find out what had happened to him until many days later.

Curmi family c1956. Back row left to right:
Donald, Mafalda, Eileen, Alex;
Front row: Asma and Emile

Emile found himself in difficulties again after he reported a theft by a servant to the police. The prejudiced judge who was handling the case mistook the name Curmi with the common Jewish name Gouri and somehow twisted things around in order to have Emile thrown into prison. Emile resorted to contacting King Feisal's uncle, whom he knew well enough and was soon out of difficulty. The corrupt judge later exclaimed to Emile "how was I to know you had such a strong back?"

The revolution of 14th July 1958 overthrowing the pro-western regime came as a terrible shock to Emile and the family. All of a sudden they awoke to military music and strident voices on the radio and their lives were turned upside down. All of the royal family members were immediately murdered. A large storage depot near the family home blazed away for many many days and would frequently flare up and light up the entire city with every gust of wind at night. Emile and his family stayed indoors and one day, all of a sudden, they heard a sustained burst of machine gun fire. They had all been sitting around their Philco short wave radio when Emile told everyone to get down on the floor of the living room. They couldn't tell where the gunfire as coming from but knew it was not far away. Later, they learned that the ousted Prime Minister Nouri Assaid had been discovered disguised as an old woman and put to death, his body was subsequently dragged through the streets. The family remained at home throughout the revolution and did not seek shelter in any foreign embassy.

Sensing danger, Emile packed his family off to England in the autumn of 1958. Emile remained behind in Baghdad with his sister-in-law Mary Kanawaty. The family were reunited in Barnet, North London five years later but by this time he was dying of cancer. Emile died on 30th January 1963 and was laid to rest at New Southgate Cemetery.