Abraham Mitrie Rihbany

Born in 1869, Abraham Mitrie Rihbany became a Lebanese-born Presbyterian minister, theologian, and author who later built his career in the United States. He is remembered for writing in English about Syrian life and society at a time when many Western readers knew the region mainly through stereotypes or distant reporting.

His best-known work is A Far Journey (1914), an autobiographical book that traces his early life and movement across cultures. He also wrote works such as The Syrian Christ and The Syrian Church in the House of Naaman, using his own background and learning to explain the historical and social world behind biblical and Middle Eastern traditions.

Rihbany died in 1944. Today, his writing stands out for the way it combines memoir, religious thought, and cultural interpretation, offering a personal bridge between the Arabic-speaking eastern Mediterranean and American readers of his era.