In Memoriam: Fr. Yousef Habbi (1938-2000)

Fr. Habbi on al-Jazeera Television shortly before his death.
An interview with Fr. Habbi on al-Jazeera's Dayfun wa-Qadiyyah, aired Dec 17, 2000, © aljazeera.net
(English Translation on Chaldeans Online)

[1] Syriac scholarship and the Syriac-speaking communities were shocked to here about the untimely death of Fr. Yousef Habbi, one of the most formidable Chaldean scholars of our times. Fr. Habbi was killed in a car accident on the Baghdad-Amman highway in Jordan on Sunday, 15 October 2000.

[2] Fr. Habbi was born Farouq Dawood in Mosul, Iraq, on 23 December 1938. He joined the Chaldean Seminary of Mar Shimun, Mosul, in 1950, and later the Propaganda College in Rome in 1954. He was ordained priest in Rome on 20 December 1961, and continued his education there in the Lateran College from which he obtained his doctorate. In 1967, he went back to Iraq and served in various churches in Mosul, and later in Baghdad in 1990. Within the Church, he held a number of offices including Patriarchal Vicar for Cultural Affairs and President of the Chaldean Church Court of Appeals (since 1990).

[3] Fr. Habbi's scholarly work in the field of Syriac studies is widely recognized and respected by the academic community. He contributed 26 books and numerous journal articles. Habbi was instrumental in the establishment in 1991 of Babylon College for Philosophy and Liturgy whose Dean he was till his death. He was also the president of the Syriac Language Committee of the Iraqi Academy, and Editor-in-Chief of Bayn al-Nahrain (Mesopotamia) periodical since its inception in 1972.

[4] The Syriac studies community morns the passing away of Fr. Habbi, and acknowledges his contributions to the field of Syriac studies. Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies expresses it condolences to the family of Fr. Habbi and to the Chaldean community. Hugoye will be publishing a special issue in Fr. Habbi's memory in 2002.

George A. Kiraz, Ph.D.
General Editor