John B. Joseph (September 1, 1923 – September 1, 2020) was an

Assyrian-American Assyrian Americans ( syr, ܣܘܼܖ̈ܵܝܹܐ ܐܲܡܪ̈ܝܼܟܵܝܹܐ) refers to individuals of ethnic Assyrian ancestry born in or residing within the United States of America. Assyrians are an indigenous Middle-Eastern ethnic group native t ...

educator and historian of Middle Eastern studies. He taught courses on the history of the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

and its relationship with the West at

Franklin & Marshall College Franklin & Marshall College (F&M) is a private liberal arts college in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It employs 175 full-time faculty members and has a student body of approximately 2,400 full-time students. It was founded upon the merger of Frank ...

(F&M) in

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster, ( ; pdc, Lengeschder) is a city in and the county seat of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States. With a population at the 2020 census of 58,039, it ranks 11th in population amon ...

, from 1961 to 1988. Joseph was born in Iraq in September 1923. He was the son of refugees from the

Assyrian genocide The Sayfo or the Seyfo (; see below), also known as the Assyrian genocide, was the mass slaughter and deportation of Assyrian / Syriac Christians in southeastern Anatolia and Persia's Azerbaijan province by Ottoman forces and some Kurdish ...

in pre-

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, John B. (''Benjamin'') Joseph attended the American School for Boys in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

. Pennsylvania missionary Calvin Staudt founded the school with his wife Ida. He occasionally sent students to his alma mater, F&M. Joseph arrived in 1946, received his degree from F&M in 1950, and subsequently earned a Ph.D from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

. In his long teaching career at F&M, he inspired many students, including business executive Andrew Schindler, class of 1972, who contributed the leading sum for the construction of the "John Joseph International Center" at F&M, dedicated to the study of the world's languages, culture, history and politics. Following his retirement from full-time teaching, Joseph has held the title of Lewis Audenreid Professor Emeritus of History. He died in

on his 97th birthday in September 2020.

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * *

Notes

External links

Franklin & Marshall College: John Joseph International Center

Sargon R. Michael (2002): Opinion & Reflections on Prof. John Joseph's Latest Book

Fred Aprim (2002): Personal Reflections on John Joseph's Hypothesis

Fred Aprim (2004): Prof. John Joseph: Selective or Objective

Johny Messo (2004): The Professor & the Nationalist

George V. Yana (2008): Ancient and Modern Assyrians: A Scientific Analysis

Julia Ferrante (2013): A Chance for Life - Former prisoners of war launched new beginnings at F&M after World War II

1923 births 2020 deaths 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers American people of Iraqi-Assyrian descent Historians from Pennsylvania Historians of the Middle East Iraqi emigrants to the United States Middle Eastern studies scholars Princeton University alumni Writers from Baghdad Writers from Lancaster, Pennsylvania American male non-fiction writers {{US-historian-stub