Sergius Gamerius (or Sarkis al-Gamri; 1610 in

Ehden Ehden (, Syriac language, Syriac-Aramaic:ܐܗܕ ܢ) is a mountainous city in the heart of the northern mountains of Lebanon and on the southwestern slopes of Mount Makmal in the Mount Lebanon, Mount Lebanon Range. Its residents are the people of Z ...

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 ...

– 1668 in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

) was an Arabist and

Maronite Maronites (; ) are a Syriac Christianity, Syriac Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant (particularly Lebanon) whose members belong to the Maronite Church. The largest concentration has traditionally re ...

bishop.

Life

After study (from 1625) and be ordained a priest in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, and after a visit to Nicolas Peiresc in 1635 in

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, city and Communes of France, commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. A former capital of Provence, it is the Subprefectures in France, s ...

, he asked before his return to Lebanon in January 1642 to

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, 1st Duke of Richelieu (9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), commonly known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a Catholic Church in France, French Catholic prelate and statesman who had an outsized influence in civil and religi ...

to buy Greek and Oriental manuscripts for him in the Orient. Apparently, in vain, because he was suspected by

Englishmen The English people are an ethnic group and nation native to England, who speak the English language, a West Germanic language, and share a common ancestry, history, and culture. The English identity began with the Anglo-Saxons, when they we ...

and

Dutchmen The Dutch, or Netherlanders ( Dutch: ) are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common ancestry and culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably ...

due to still rare oriental

sort Sort may refer to: * Sorting, any process of arranging items in sequence or in sets ** Sorting algorithm, any algorithm for ordering a list of elements ** Mainframe sort merge, sort utility for IBM mainframe systems ** Sort (Unix), which sorts the ...

for sale. Between 1648 and 1656 he worked, beside his nephew and successor Gabriel Sionita, as professor of Arabic at the

Collège de France The (), formerly known as the or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment () in France. It is located in Paris near La Sorbonne. The has been considered to be France's most ...

. On 25 January 1658 Gamerius became the Maronite Archbishop of the

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

and more later of

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

but stayed from 1659 in Paris letter of 3 April 1660 Sergius, "Archbishop of Damascus", in Paris handed down the Cod. Paris. SYR 331st; cf. F. Nau:. Notices of manuscrits syriaques. In: Revue de l'Orient Chrétien 16 (1911) 292nd/ref> and in 1662 temporarily in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

. He died in 1668 after a stay of unknown duration in Marseille.

Literature

Nasser Gemayel Nasser Gemayel (born 6 January 1951, in Ain-Kharroubé, Lebanon) is the first and current eparch of the Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Notre-Dame du Liban de Paris. Life Gemayel was born in 1951 at Ain-Kharroubé in Antélias Archeparchy of the Mar ...

: Rôle the Maronites dans l'acquisition of manuscrits orientaux et dans la rédaction de leur cataloguqe en France. In: Exposition Le livre et le Liban jusqu'à 1900, Paris, 1962, 213-217, esp. 213th 216th. *

: Les échanges entre les culturels Maronites et l'Europe. Vol. 1. Beyrouth 1984, 103. 243. 245-48. 252. 287f. 298.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gamerius, Sergius 1610 births 1668 deaths 17th-century Eastern Catholic archbishops Maronite Catholic archbishops Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to France Pontifical Maronite College alumni 17th-century Maronite Catholic bishops