Manouk Avedissian (1841–1925), more commonly known as Bechara Effendi (or Bechara Effendi al-Muhandis, Bechara Afandi, also Bechara Effendi el-Dob ''"the bear"'') was an Ottoman administrator and the chief engineer of the Vilayet of Syria and later of the Vilayet of Beirut. Avedissian, who is considered one of the founding fathers of Lebanese architecture and urban planning, is of

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

descent.

Works

In 1887, Bechara Effendi was dispatched by order from the Porte to assist with the excavations conducted by

Osman Hamdi Bey Osman Hamdi Bey (30 December 1842 – 24 February 1910) was an Ottoman Turkish administrator, intellectual, art expert and also a prominent and pioneering painter. He was the Ottoman Empire's first modern archaeologist, and is regarded as the ...

and Yervant Voskan at the necropolis near

Sidon Sidon ( ) or better known as Saida ( ; ) is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast in the South Governorate, Lebanon, South Governorate, of which it is the capital. Tyre, Lebanon, Tyre, t ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

which unearthed the

Alexander Sarcophagus The Alexander Sarcophagus is a late 4th century BC Hellenistic stone sarcophagus from the Royal necropolis of Ayaa near Sidon, Lebanon. It is adorned with high relief carvings of Alexander the Great and scrolling historical and mythological na ...

among other artifacts. He is credited with discovering new burial chambers and with devising transport mechanisms and superintending the transit of the massive troves to a frigate bound for Constantinople's museum. His works marked the landscape of

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

with governmental buildings and monuments. Some of his work include the

Petit Serail The Petit Serail ( / ALA-LC: ''as-sarāy as- ṣaghir''; literally "Little Saray (building), Saray") was a historic administrative Ottoman Empire, Ottoman building in Beirut that housed the seat of the List of rulers of Damascus#Ottoman walis, ...

, the Sanayeh school complex, the Ottoman Bank in Beirut. Avedisian worked closely with

Youssef Aftimus Youssef Aftimus (; 25 November 1866 – 10 September 1952) was a Lebanese people, Lebanese civil engineer and architect who specialized in Moorish Revival architecture. Aftimus was the leading Lebanese architect and urban planner during the first ...

who married his daughter Rose in 1899.

References

*DAVIE M. 2003, « Manouk Avédissian, alias Béchara afandi al-mouhandis. Itinéraire beyrouthin d'un ingénieur beyrouthin à la fin du XIXe siècle », in M. Anastassiadou-Dumont (éd.), Médecins et ingénieurs ottomans à l'âge des nationalismes, Istanbul & Paris, Institut Français d'Études Anatoliennes & Maisonneuve et Larose, p. 219-329. {{Authority control Lebanese civil engineers 1841 births 1925 deaths Lebanese people of Armenian descent Armenians from the Ottoman Empire Engineers from the Ottoman Empire