Iris Habib Elmasry (إيريس حبيب المصري) was a prominent

Copt Copts (; ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group native to Northeast Africa who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt since antiquity. They are, like the broader Egyptian population, descended from the ancient Egyptians. Copts pre ...

Historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

(1910–1994).

Biography

Iris Habib Elmasry was born into a Coptic family in 1910. Her family name ''Elmasry'' in the

Arabic language Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

means

The Egyptian ''The Egyptian'' (''Sinuhe egyptiläinen'', Sinuhe the Egyptian) is a historical novel by Mika Waltari. It was first published in Finnish in 1945, and in an abridged English translation by Naomi Walford in 1949, from Swedish rather than Finni ...

. Her father Habib Elmasry was the secretary of the

General Congregation The General Congregation is an assembly of the Jesuit representatives from all parts of the world, and serves as the highest authority in the Society of Jesus. A General Congregation (GC) is always summoned on the death or resignation of the adm ...

Council of the

Coptic Orthodox Church The Coptic Orthodox Church (), also known as the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, is an Oriental Orthodox Christian church based in Egypt. The head of the church and the See of Alexandria is the pope of Alexandria on the Holy Apo ...

. She had two brothers; Amin, who was a prominent surgeon, and died in the 1960s, and Sami who was director of the Egyptian State Bureau for Tourism in London, and three sisters; Eva, who helped Iris in her work, Soraya, an avid pianist, and Dora, who was married to Dr. Aziz El Masry Habib Elmasry was the secretary of the General Congregation Council for three terms and was known for his strong support of the ordination of a monk to be the

Coptic pope The pope (; ), officially the pope of Alexandria and the patriarch of the see of St. Mark, also known as the bishop of Alexandria, or the patriarch of Alexandria, is the leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church, with ancient Christian roots in Eg ...

and not a metropolitan or a bishop. This issue caused an ongoing dispute in the Coptic Orthodox Church and although

The Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church The Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria is the highest Orthodox authority in the Coptic Orthodox Church. It formulates the rules and regulations regarding matters of the Church's organisation and faith. The synod is chaired by ...

had considered in the 1960s the general bishops to be secretaries to the pope in the degree of a

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

, Iris Elmasry in her

List of Coptic Orthodox Popes of Alexandria The following is a list of all of the Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Coptic Orthodox popes who have led the Coptic Orthodox Church and have succeeded the Apostle Mark the Evangelist in the office of Bishop of Alexandria, who founded the Chu ...

considered Pope

Shenouda III Shenouda ( ) is an Egyptian male name, which is commonly used among Egyptian Christians (the Copts). The name comes from (') and is a composite of the Egyptian words: ' ( "son"), ' ( "of") and ' ( "God"), thus meaning ''the son of God''. The ...

(1971–2012), who was a general bishop before, to be the fourth bishop to become a pope after Popes

John XIX Pope John XIX (; died October 1032), born Romanus, was the Bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 1024 to his death. He belonged to the family of the powerful Counts of Tusculum, succeeding his brother, Benedict VIII. Papal relatio ...

(1928–1942), Macarius III (1942–1944)and

Joseph II Joseph II (13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from 18 August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 29 November 1780 until his death. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Emperor F ...

(1946–1956). Elmasry received her Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in education from Maria Grey College,

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

in 1932. Between 1952 and 1954, she pursued her research at

Dropsie College Edema (American English), also spelled oedema (British English), and also known as fluid retention, swelling, dropsy and hydropsy, is the build-up of fluid in the body's tissue. Most commonly, the legs or arms are affected. Symptoms may inclu ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, and in 1955, she went to the

National Gallery, London The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current dire ...

, to obtain further materials and documents. In 1954, Pope

appointed Elmasry as the female delegate of the Coptic Church to the Second Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Evanston, Illinois, USA. From 1955 to 1985 Elmasry continued to lecture in

Coptic History Coptic history is the part of the history of Egypt that begins with the introduction of Christianity in Egypt in the 1st century AD during the Roman period, and covers the history of the Copts to the present day. Many of the historic items rela ...

at both the Seminary in Cairo and Alexandria and the

Institute of Coptic Studies The Institute of Coptic Studies is a postgraduate academic institute affiliated with the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. It was founded in Cairo, Egypt, in 1954, and its Grand President is Pope Tawadros II, the Pope of Alexandria and Patr ...

. She died on July 2, 1994.

Work

Elmasry took an interest in the history of the

and in 1948 published the first volume of her nine-volumes book '' Story of the Coptic church''. The seventh volume of this history is about the era of Pope Cyril VI (1959–1971): the book shows how highly appreciative she was of His Holiness's work. She considered Abouna Matta El Meskeen the Spiritual Father of the

Monks A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

in St. Macarius'

Monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

in Scetis (

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

) as her mentor and always expressed gratitude to him in the introductions to her books and also to Father

Bishoy Kamel Bishoy Kamel also spelled Bishoi Kamel (; 1931–1979), was a priest of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. Life He was born Samy Kamel in Sers el-Lyan, Monufia Governorate, Egypt, in 1931. later moving to Damenhour where he received hi ...

of Alexandria. Pope Youssab II, the 115th Pope (1946–1956), appointed Elmasry in 1954 as his secretary for correspondence with the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, most jurisdictions of the Eastern Orthodo ...

. His successor Pope Kyrillos VI, the 116th Pope (1959–1971), appointed her in 1966 as Counselor to young Coptic women. While Elmasry's Arabic language publications are among the most widely quoted in the historical literature of the Coptic Church, her impressive work as a theologian, politician, psychologist, educator, and philanthropist is not as widely known. An article by Saad (2009) presents an introduction to her contributions to certain areas of politics and theology, while exploring in more detail unique features of her writing that may offer a framework for Coptic feminine theology. Elmasry's work was very thorough: she made every effort not to omit details that she considered important. As a result, her work is more detailed, and of greater use to both academic and non-academic readers; is valuable for any researcher in

Coptic history Coptic history is the part of the history of Egypt that begins with the introduction of Christianity in Egypt in the 1st century AD during the Roman period, and covers the history of the Copts to the present day. Many of the historic items rela ...

and provides a comprehensive approach to the history of Christianity in Egypt and point of view of the

Coptic Church The Coptic Orthodox Church (), also known as the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, is an Oriental Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox Christian church based in Egypt. The head of the church and the Apostolic see, See of Alexandria i ...

regarding many debatable issues like Council of Chalcedon. In the introduction to the first volume of her nine volumes book on the history of the Coptic Church, she mentions a conversation she had with a non-Egyptian about the Council of Chalcedon, during which she explained the Coptic view regarding the Council. She used a lot of sources in her work and mentioned many known scripts in different languages. Her work shows clear affection towards her church, and high esteem for certain people in the church’s history. This may be the reason behind the way she presented the history of Pope Cyril III in comparison to the way it was presented in Abouna

Menassa Youhanna Father Menassa Youhanna (1899–1930) was a Coptic priest, historian and theologian, most noted for his work on the history of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. Biography He was born in August, 1899 in Mallawi in Upper Egypt and died on ...

's book ''History of the Coptic Church''.

Books

* ''The Blessed Virgin'' (1970) * ''Habib Pascha El Masry'' (1971) * ''The Story of the Copts'', first published in 1975 by the

Middle East Council of Churches The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) was inaugurated in May 1974 at its First General Assembly in Nicosia, Cyprus, and now has its headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon. Initially it consisted of three "families" of Christian Churches in the Mid ...

, * ''Introduction to the Coptic Church'', published in English in 1977 * ''Women in the Church'' (1979) * ''The Pharaonic Influence on Modern Coptic Life'' (1980) * ''Bishop Samuel'' (1983) * ''Father Bishoy Kamel'' (1980)

References

External links

Iris Habib Elmasry — Archive of Contemporary Coptic Orthodox TheologyStory of The Copts Part 1 By Iris Habib Elmasry PDF fileStory of The Copts Part 2 By Iris Habib Elmasry PDF file
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elmasry, Iris Habib Coptologists Coptic Orthodox Christians from Egypt 1910 births 1994 deaths 20th-century Egyptian historians Egyptian women historians Alumni of the University of London Dropsie College alumni Family: Nada Gregory and her granddaughter Mariam Gabalawy

Biography

Work

Books

See also

References

External links