Aleppo College (; also called Aleppo American College) is a junior college. It awards high school degrees at the tenth grade. And up to 1964, it awarded freshman and sophomore classes in arts, engineering and medicine at the 11th and 12th Grades. It is based in the

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

n city of

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

since 1923. The roots of the college are traced back to the Central Turkey College of

Aintab Gaziantep, historically Aintab and still informally called Antep, is a major city in south-central Turkey. It is the capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Medit ...

founded between 1874 and 1876 by the American Board of Commissioners and Foreign Missions in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

to serve the large number of Christian Armenian population in the region.

History

The students of the Aintab College were largely

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

-mainly Protestant Armenians-, but non-Armenians also attended. As a result of the massacres of the Armenians during the 1915

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

, the college was transferred to the

Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

city of Aleppo through the efforts of its director John E. Merrill (1898–1937) where it became known as Aleppo College or the Aleppo American College and functioned as a

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

School facilities

By 1930, with the efforts of the American benefactor James Lack, a large piece of land of 13 hectares was donated to erect the new buildings of the school in the south-western suburbs of Aleppo. However, the construction process was launched in 1936 and completed in 1939. Due to the circumstances of the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the construction of the second building (Girls High school) named American High School for Girls started only in 1950 and completed in 1952.

Legacy

In its life of more than 150 years the college has helped prepare thousands of young men and women for service to society. In the secular field its graduates have distinguished themselves as teachers, school administrators, nurses, physicians, surgeons, pharmacists, dentists, writers, merchants, engineers, government officials and a cross-section of the occupations of its alumni.

Alumni

Alumni of Aleppo College include:Syrian History:Aleppo College
/ref> *

Nazim al-Kudsi Nazim al-Qudsi (; 14 February 1906 – 6 February 1998), was a Syrian politician who served as the 14th president of Syria from 14 December 1961 to 8 March 1963. Early life and education Al-Qudsi was born in Aleppo on 14 February 1906. After gr ...

, former president of Syria *

Fateh Moudarres Fateh al-Moudarres (; 1922–1999) was a Syrian painter and one of the leaders of the modern art movement in Syria. Moudarres studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome, where he was influenced by Surrealism. After he completed his studi ...

, Syrian painter *

Moustapha Akkad Moustapha al Akkad (; July 1, 1930 – November 11, 2005) was a Syrian Americans, Syrian-American film producer and Film director, director, best known for producing the original series of ''Halloween (franchise), Halloween'' films and dire ...

, film producer and director

References

{{Coord, 36, 11, 59, N, 37, 07, 33, E, type:edu_region:SY, display=title 1876 establishments in the Ottoman Empire High schools and secondary schools in Syria Education in Aleppo