Ashur Yousif
Encyclopedia
Elazig
Elâzığ is a city in Eastern Anatolia, Turkey and the seat of Elâzığ Province. It has a population of331,479 according to the 2010 census, and the plain on which the city extends has an altitude of 1067 metres....
, Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
- June 23, 1915 Diyarbekir
Diyarbakır
Diyarbakır is one of the largest cities in southeastern Turkey...
, Ottoman Empire) was a professor and an Assyrian
Assyrian people
The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...
nationalist leader prior to World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and the Assyrian Genocide
Assyrian genocide
The Assyrian Genocide refers to the mass slaughter of the Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac population of the Ottoman Empire during the 1890s, the First World War, and the period of 1922-1925...
. Ashur was raised in Tur Abdin
Tur Abdin
Tur Abdin is a hilly region of south east Turkey incorporating the eastern half of Mardin Province, and Şırnak Province west of the Tigris, on the border with Syria. The name 'Tur Abdin' is from the Syriac language meaning 'mountain of the servants '. Tur Abdin is of great importance to Syriac...
and like many in the area, was part of the Syriac Orthodox Church
Syriac Orthodox Church
The Syriac Orthodox Church; is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church based in the Eastern Mediterranean, with members spread throughout the world. The Syriac Orthodox Church claims to derive its origin from one of the first Christian communities, established in Antioch by the Apostle St....
. He was educated at the Central Turkey College
Central Turkey College
Central Turkey College was a Christian college founded in 1874 by the American Mission Board in Aintab, Ottoman Empire . It was on a site west of the city, and also had a branch for girls in town...
in Antep
Gaziantep
Gaziantep , Ottoman Turkish: Ayintab) previously and still informally called Antep; ʻayn tāb is a city in southeast Turkey and amongst the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world. The city is located 185 kilometres northeast of Adana and 127 kilometres by road north of Aleppo, Syria...
, and later became a professor of literature at the Euphrates College
Euphrates College
Euphrates College was a coeducational high school in Harput , a town in the eastern Turkey, founded and directed by American missionaries for mostly the Armenian community in the region....
in Harput. In 1909, Ashur started publishing a Turkish-language newspaper named Murshid Athuriyion ("the spiritual guide of the Assyrians").
Ashur and his brother Donabed along with other Assyrian leaders from the village of Harput were arrested on April 19, 1915 and were all later hanged. His children and grandchildren have written numerous books on him. On June 24, 2006, Ashur Yusef's great-grandson Tigran Hovsepyan gave an emotional speech in the "Assyrian Society of UK" regarding the Assyrian Genocide and praised UK politicians Councillor Mike Elliot and Stephen Pound MP for their efforts on the issue.
Quotes
- "The hindrance before the advancement of the Assyrian people was not so much the attacks from without as it was from within, the doctrinal and sectarian disputes and struggles, like Monophysitism (One nature of Christ) Dyophysitism (Two natures of Christ) is a good example, these caused division, spiritually, and nationally, among the people who quarreled among themselves even to the point of shedding blood. To this very day the Assyrians are still known by various names, such as Nestorians, Jacobites, Chaldeans"
- A letter sent by Ashur Yusef to his brother Hanna Yusef in the U.S., during his jail term before his execution;
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- "Monday April 20, 1915
- From my cell to my beloved brother, Hanna Yousouf in America.
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- Yesterday on Sunday morning April 19th 1915 when we had heard that the Turks were crazed with the anger of beastly slaughter, sparing neither man woman or child we became terrified. Especially when the news came of the arrests of my comrades, I began to shiver, and during the course of preparing a hiding place, I myself was arrested and brought to this cell.
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- This is a good opportunity that I am enjoying to write you my last letter, for I know we will be cut to pieces when we leave here, though I do not know when and where.
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- Do not worry over my death-it is God's will- I am going to heaven to protect the rights of the Assyrians at the presence of the biggest and greatest Judge. The books and the work I had started about our nation's education remains unfinished. I am afraid they will be destroyed in a very short time. One of my biggest desires has been to keep our brother Donabed away from drink. I'd have given anything under the sun to have made him temperate but it was in vain. I will give him my last advice after I finish writing to you.
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- I leave my loving wife and children in your care. My son Isaak was to graduate from high school this year. I had intended to give him a college education, which is another unfinished task I leave in your hands.
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- The time is almost up and I close this sad missive with wishes for your welfare and safety, so that God may some day lead you to revenge on your enemies!
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- Farewell brother, farewell"
- Ashur S. Yousouf"