Sumayeh Attiyeh (March 21, 1890 — September 1978) was a Syrian-born American lecturer and writer who toured North America on the Chautauqua circuit.
Early life Sumayeh Attiyeh was born into a prominent Christian family in Tripoli (in present-day Lebanon). Attiyeh's mother Frieda Attiyeh was a translator and writer, and her father was Mathew Attiyeh, a government official; her grandfather was Rev. Joseph Attiyeh."Why Fatima is Sorry the Harem Doors are Opened" New York Herald (March 19, 1922): 84. via Newspapers.com Her sister Sameera Sleyman was a poet and artist in Brooklyn. Sumayeh Attiyeh attended an American Protestant girls' school in Syria before moving to the United States for further studies.Margaret Mara, "Syrian Poet Praises Bay Ridge as Ideal Home Site for Her Family" Brooklyn Daily Eagle (March 9, 1932): 41. via Newspapers.com
Career Attiyeh toured the United States and Canada from about 1916"Good Entertainment" The Republic (December 7, 1916): 6. via Newspapers.com to 1927,"Syrian Woman Will Lecture" Decatur Evening Herald (October 19, 1927): 11. via Newspapers.com much of that time on the Chautauqua and lyceum circuits, lecturing on the Middle East; She was billed as "the youngest woman lecturer on the continent of America today"."Sumayeh Attiyeh" Lyceum Magazine (September 1919): 63.
Attiyeh also wrote for newspapers and magazines, including a story collection "Tales and Legends of Araby" (1925–1926).Sumayeh Attiyeh, "Tales and Legends of Araby" Complete Novel Magazine (serialized across seven issues, 1925 through 1926). "There is a big hell at the gate of our great country. It is Ellis Island," she started a 1922 essay in the New York Times, after working for weeks, successfully, to prevent her aunt from being deported.Sumayeh Attiyeh, "Ellis Island Called New Inferno" New York Times (November 19, 1922): 105.
By 1932 she was a social worker in the United States, and known to be interested in Indian independence movement. She gave her talks to women's clubs, schools, churches, and other groups during the 1930s,"Turkey and Its Women Subject of Interesting Talk at St. Katherine's" Quad-City Times (October 4, 1931): 14. via Newspapers.com"Chicago Woman's Ideal Club" Chicago Tribune (November 29, 1936): 66. via Newspapers.com still dressing in the costume of "a genuine Arabian princess.""Arabian Lecturer Speaks on Ethiopia and Near East" Chicago Defender (June 6, 1936): 6. In 1939 she was on the program at a spiritualist summer camp at Lily Dale, New York."Lily Dale Program Provides Prominent Lecturers, Mediums" Dunkirk Evening Observer (July 1, 1939): 7. via Newspapers.com
Personal life Sumayeh Attiyeh died in 1978, aged 88 years, in St. Petersburg, Florida.
References
External links A promotional brochure about Sumayeh Attiyeh, from "Traveling Culture: Circuit Chautauqua in the Twentieth Century", Redpath Chautauqua Collection, University of Illinois Libraries Special Collections Department. Another promotional brochure about Sumayeh Attiyeh, also from "Traveling Culture: Circuit Chautauqua in the Twentieth Century", Redpath Chautauqua Collection, University of Illinois Libraries Special Collections Department.