The Kanawaty Lebanese and Brazilian connection

This post explores another of my wife’s exotic roots. Antonia’s maternal grandmother, Asma Kanawaty was born in Beirut on 12^th March 1903. She was one of 8 children born to Antoun Kanawaty and Anissa Habib Zreik. Asma’s eldest sister was named Lily and there were 3 other sisters: Marie, who was born on 1^st January 1898; Afifa, and Zobeida, who was born in 1909. Asma also had 3 brothers: Fouad, the eldest, who was born on 6^th November 1906, Amin and Rafful. The family were part of a large Christian population that lived (and still lives) in Lebanon. Sadly, both Amin and Afifa did not survive childhood. Amin, died at a young age due to some illness, and Afifa from a nasty accident that left her with severe burns.

Family tree showing the children of Antoun Kanawaty and Anissa Zreik

Both Asma and Marie grew up and became teachers. They obtained work in Baghdad and worked at the Menahem Daniel Jewish primary school. Later in life, Marie went on to become the school principal.

Photo of Asma Curmi (nee Kanawaty) probably taken in the 1930s

In around 1928, Asma married Emile Curmi, a former British officer who had worked in the political department of the Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force. The couple’s first child, Giovanna, was born on 27^th December 1930. Less than 2 years later on 16^th October 1932, she was joined by another sister named Eileen. Gio’s and Eileen’s births was registered at the British Consulate on 21^st February 1936. At that time, the family were living at 69 Abu Nawass Street in the Battaween district of Baghdad. The family expanded further in the years that followed with the arrivals of Mafalda (February 16^th 1939), Joseph Donald (January 16^th 1943) and Richard Alexander (24^th September 1945). The family moved to a larger house on nearby Alamein Street in the Battaween district of Baghdad and they had servants to help with the cooking and cleaning.

Photo of Asma Curmi (nee Kanawaty) and Donald Curmi. Don's age suggests the photo was taken in the late 1940s

To escape the searing summer heat in Baghdad, the family would occasionally travel across the desert to visit family back in Lebanon. Marie’s passport, issued in 1931, contains visas indicating many trips back and forth between Baghdad and Beirut.  The document contains a note from the passport office dated 28^th July 1938 stating that there is “no objection to Giovanna and Elen (sic) to enter Iraq accompanied by the holder of this passport”

Photo of Asma Curmi (nee Kanawaty) with her sister Marie

The revolution of 14^th July 1958 came as a huge shock to the family and it was no longer safe to remain in Baghdad. Emile sent Asma, Eileen, Mafalda, Donald and Alex to England in the autumn of that year where they were reunited with Giovanna, who had left suddenly a few years before in 1955. They settled in Barnet in North London and lived at 34 Hadley Road. Asma’s sister and husband remained in Baghdad until 1962. By the time they arrived in England, Emile was gravely ill with cancer and died on 30^th January 1963. Following his death, the family remained in Barnet. Marie passed away 5 years later in 1968.

Fouad Kanawaty emigrated from Lebanon on the Neptunia and arrived in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 16^th August 1939. He later obtained a job at Fabrica Colchoes Sao Paolo, a mattress factory in Sao Paolo. He married but the couple had no children. Fouad passed away on 16^th August 1978 aged 71.

Fouad Kanawaty Brazillian immigration card

Rafful followed his older brother to Brazil in the 1950s. He married a woman by the name of Alice and they had three children together: Eduardo, Antonio and Jorge. Eduardo became an endocrinologist and married a woman named Elizabeth. They had a daughter together but we don’t know her name. Antonio married a woman named Nazaré and they had 3 daughters; Monika, Simone and Larissa. Jorge married Ligia and they had 3 children; Roberta, Joao and Rafael. Rafful’s descendants all live in or around the city of Campinas which is situated 70km north west of Sao Paulo.

Rafful Kanawaty Brazillian immigration card

Lily married Rizkallah Haddad and they had a son called Eduardo, who also became a doctor. They apparently travelled to London when Asma and her family were still living in Barnet. He came over with his terminally ill wife and daughter Marisa.  

Photo of Zobeida Rouhana (nee Kanawaty) with daughter Rosette and husband Farid in the background taken in Beirut

Zobeida was a gifted painter but was regarded as a black sheep. She married a disapproved of Palestinian named Farid Rouhana and had a daughter named Rosette in around 1940. The family emigrated to Brazil, arriving in Rio on 3^rd July 1951. Farid apparently walked out on the marriage sometime afterwards.

Zobeida Rouhana (nee Kanawaty) Brazillian immigration card.

Brazil was a popular destination for Lebanese people of all creeds looking for a better life. It is claimed that there are now over 7 million people with Lebanese ancestors living in the country. Many of whom, like the Kanawaty’s, have become highly successful people. The origins of the family are less clear. One uncorroborated source states that the Kanawaty family was a branch of one of the original 6 Canaanite families who lived in Bethlehem. If this is true, they are very old indeed

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.

Giovanna Curmi: from Baghdad to Britain

Giovanna Curmi: from Baghdad to Britain

The life of Antonia's mum, Gio, deserves a far more detailed write-up than the brief synopsis below. I've been avoiding it in the hope that others, far more qualified than me, take on the task. But for now, here's a brief version:

Giovanna Curmi was born on December 27, 1930, in Baghdad, Iraq to Asma Kanawaty, age 27, and Emile Joseph Curmi, age 36. The family lived at 69 Abu Nawass Street in the Bataween district of Baghdad when Gio's birth was registered at the British Consul on 21st February 1936. Gio was the eldest of Emile and Asma's 5 children. Eileen was born on 16th October 1932, Mafalda on 16th February 1939, Donald on 16th January 1943 and finally Alex on 24th September 1945.


Gio attended the Convent Presentation School and passed exams in both Arabic and English. The photo below shows Gio bottom right and her sister Eileen above

Photo courtesy of John Auld

The family were Anglican and regularly attended St George's Church in Baghdad. The minister, Reverend Roberts would often be a guest in the family home. The photo below was taken outside the church and shows (from the left), Mary Kanawaty, Gio, Donald (front child), Lady in Middle not identified, Asma and Mafalda, Eileen and Emile Curmi.

Photo courtesy of John Auld

As a young woman in Baghdad, life had its limitations. Gio met an older man, Harold Stonham, who helped her to escape Iraq. Leaving her family behind her, she boarded a plane bound for London which stopped in Rome en-route to refuel. Inevitably, Gio's sudden departure led to a family rift which took some years to heal.

1950s London must have been an exciting place for Gio. While she was making a new life for herself she stayed at the YWCA Hostel 79 Onslow Gardens in London's Kensington.

Photo courtesy of John Auld

Meanwhile, back in Iraq, the puppet monarchy installed by the British was overthrown in a military coup on 14th July 1958. Gio's parents and younger siblings were forced to leave the country.

Gio eventually married Harry at Pamber Priory in Hampshire on 31st December 1960 following the death of his wife.

 
Gio and Harry moved to Peacehaven near Brighton and remained together until Harry passed away from Parkinson's disease in 1969. 

With Harry's passing, Gio embarked upon a new chapter of her life and whilst on holiday in Spain she met and fell in love with a handsome young waiter called Esteban. Even though initially neither could speak the other's language, the romance blossomed. Esteban traveled to the UK and the couple married in Luton on 18th March 1972. 

With Esteban finding it difficult to settle in England, the couple moved back to Spain. They initially lived in Esteban's home town of Villacarrillo in southern Spain but lack of work forced them to move elsewhere. They eventually found a flat in Churriana close to Malaga. Gio became pregnant but sadly the child, a baby girl, was stillborn. The baby was taken away by the medical staff and she was unable to grieve properly.

Gio became pregnant again but this time, with painful memories of the previous pregnancy still fresh in her mind, she insisted that the baby be born in England. Accompanied by her husband, the heavily pregnant Gio flew back to the UK and the couple stayed with friends in London. A beautiful baby girl, Antonia, was born on 27th February 1975 at Central Middlesex Hospital. 

Gio put their names down on the emergency housing list and the family were eventually allocated a council flat on the Isle of Dogs in East London. The flat was on the 18th floor and lifts frequently broke down which meant she had to lug baby and shopping up countless flights of stairs. They were eventually moved to a nearby low-rise block in Seysell Street but there were still problems. Gio's strong Arabic accent led her being called "German" by some racist locals. In the early 1980's the family moved to Smithy Street in Stepney but unfortunately there were problems with her marriage to Esteban and the couple divorced.

By this time, Gio and her siblings had reconciled completely. Albeit, Mafalda was in the United States and both Donald and Alex were in Canada. Unfortunately, her sister Eileen died from cancer in 1983 leaving behind her own children Emile and John. 

Through the 1980s and 1990s Gio saw her daughter, Antonia, to grow up to be a strong independent woman. She traveled to visit her sister in the US and had a number of holidays both in the UK and in Southern Europe. Her youngest brother Alex returned from Canada with his family and they had some fun times together.

Sadly, Gio, like her 1st husband, was diagnosed with Parkinsons disease. She carried the burden with great courage but it was sad to see such a dynamic woman slowly deteriorate. She passed away on 4th June 2010 and is missed by all of us.