A French-Lebanese couple set out for Beirut where the man wanted to introduce the woman he wanted to marry to his family. However, as their passenger ship docked in Beirut port, the man’s father refused to allow the woman to disembark from the ship. A powerful and wealthy Greek Orthodox businessman, Musa Sursuq was opposed to his son, Jirjis Musa Sursuq, from marrying a French singer. As Kristen Alff describes, ‘He forbade his son from marrying the singer, telling Jirjis that he had already arranged for him to marry his first cousin Emilie.’ The world Musa grew up in, the newly acquired power and wealth acquired by his parents’ generation meant it was imperative for sons and daughters to marry […]
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