Hello!

We are a small family that lives in the lovely village of Brummana, Lebanon. Our village -- and we still like to refer to it as a village despite the massive concrete construction that is going on these days -- sits on the mountain side amidst the pine trees (or whatever is left of them) some 750 meters above the sea level, about 17 km north-west of Beirut.

My grandfather Tanious Cortas came down from Baskinta to teach at the Quaker mission school back in the 1880s. He got married in 1897 to my grandmother Mariam Aswad, who comes from one of the bigger families in Brummana, and who was also teaching at the School. Both of them had already joined the budding Society of Friends Monthly Meeting in Brummana. Their marriage certificate carries the signature of Theophilus Waldmeier, the missionary who founded the School. in 1875. (In traditional Quaker weddings, the guests are invited to sign the marriage certificate). My grandparents were married in 1897 in the Meeting House at the school.
Both my grandfather and grandmother held supervisory and teaching positions at the school. My grandfather taught Arabic and Bible class. In addition, he was a simultaneous translator and supervisor of buildings and grounds. Around the turn of the century (19th to 20th) he spent a few years with my grandmother in Ras El Metn (a village across the valley from Brummana,to the east) assisting Daniel Oliver in running an orphanage. My grandmother taught English at the Girls school. She also doubled as a matron and was in charge of the kitchen. In fact during the Great 1914-18 war she was put in charge of a soup kitchen in Brummana which was instrumental in saving many lives during the famine. (I will include a section on their lives with some pictures)

My grandparents had four children: Labibi, Emile, Najla and Michel. Emile, my father, was born May 20th,1902. After finishing high school, he enrolled at the Syrian Protestent College (which later became the American University of Beirut in 1922). Father graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration in 1921. After graduation, he worked for the American University for a couple of years, then he decided to start a business of his own, making and selling jams. So in the early thirties, encouraged by his Business professor and friend, Professor Nicoley, and in possesion of the fine jam recipe of his mother, father started making and selling jams. This was the start of the now famous CORTAS Canning and Refrigeration food company.

At college, father had a very close friend named Elias Khoury Al-Makdisi. The Makdisi's were, and still are, a family of scholars. (The Makdisi Family Home page will be available shortly). Father and Elias Al-Makdisi, as I was saying, were good friends, being both members of the university's football team. Elias had a lovely sister Wadad (ultimately to become my mother). She and Emile became good friends.
Wadad had earned her Bachelor of Arts at the American University, and although having a B.A was quite a feat for a young woman in Lebanon in the 1920s, it was not enough for Wadad ...a Makdisi after all. So she convinced her father to send her to the USA where she attended the University of Michigan and obtained a Master's degree in History in 1933. On her return from America, she joined Al Ahliah School for Girls, which was founded by Marie Kassab, as a teacher. A few years later Marie Kassab retired as Principal, passing the helm to Wadad.

Emile and Wadad were married on a lovely summer day on June 20th, 1940. They had a Quaker wedding at the Meeting House of Brummana High School, followed by a reception at the then famous "Park Hotel" in Brummana (The Park Hotel was demolished in the late 1980s). They established a Home in Brummana, in fact in Brummana in summer and Ras Beirut in winter. Emile was then General Manager of the Cortas Bros company, and Wadad the Principal of the Ahliah Girls School.

Emile and Wadad had four children: Mariam, Nadim, Ramzi and Sami.

Now that you know something about the family, let me tell you about its different members in more details. The first Link will be to the page of my grandparents..both paternal and maternal .

....Please bear with me I shall continue the story of this family, which you will find out is going to grow in time to include through intermarriage many families from several other countries,going from New Zeland across Europe to America. I know my cousin Mariana will be joining me in writing the web page of the Makdisi Branch of the Family...when time permits. Well Mariana has completed the translation, and we thought it would be a good idea to put it on line. Here it is: A translation of my maternal grandfather's autobiography (Mariana's paternal grandfather) Thank you.

Take a look at our family tree. (Under construction)    Browse through our gallery. (Under construction)    Visit some of our favourite links. We would be happy if you could Sign Our Guestbook and please feel welcome to read it. Our old Guestbook is available here. Why not visit Sana's Homepage while you're here?

If you have any questions or comments, you can find us at this email address.

As for now, I bid you farewell and ask you to come and visit us soon.

God Bless,
Sami Cortas

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Last updated July 1998.
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