One might well trace the history of this initiative to a handwritten manuscript by Mikha’il Ishaq Musa Najjar entitled تاريخ بشمزين (The History of Bishmizzine). Interest in documenting the heritage of Bishmizzine was also evident in the unpublished doctoral thesis of Dr. ‘Afif Ishaq Tannous: Trends of Social and Cultural Change in Bishmizeen. The thesis, which was submitted to the department of Rural Sociology at Cornell University in 1940, was based on data he collected in the village in 1939. A more recent effort to document the heritage of Bishmizzine is Patricia Nabti’s research for her thesis International Migration From a Lebanese Village: Bishmizzinis on Six Continents, submitted to the Department of Cultural Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley in 1989. Other publications about Bishmizzine and Bishmizzinis can be found in the Resources section of this website.

The recent initiative that has led to this website has two parallel roots. In late 2020, Patricia Nabti (anthropologist) and Alia Samir Fares (archaeologist) began discussing the idea of bringing their professional expertise together to document the history of the village. In January 2021, they were reviewing a proposal drafted by Patricia to create “The Bishmizzine Historical, Cultural, and Environmental Society”. Their discussions were continuing when they saw the announcement of an Ancestry Project on the Baladiyat Bishmizzine Facebook page.

Not knowing what Patricia and Alia were considering, Bishmizzinis in the village and emigrants in the US came together in 2021 to create an ad hoc committee for what was called the Ancestry Project. They announced it on the Baladiyat Bishmizzine Facebook page in June 2021, proposing various committees to address different aspects of the project. Leaders of this initiative included Diran Elsaifi, Adil Mina, George Tannous, and Elias Chahine from the United States and Youssef Youssef, Walid Said Najjar, and Fawzi Kalash from Bishmizzine.

On July 10, 2021, these two groups came together in a small meeting held at the Bishmizzine Municipality. Their collaboration was affirmed during an expanded meeting held a week later. The initiative continues to be ad hoc, unofficial, and collaborative. While it works with the baladiyyi and the other institutions in the village, it is independent of all of them. At the request of the group, Patricia Nabti has become coordinator of the website project. Other initiatives related to Bishmizzine’s heritage have been and will continue to be developed by the people of Bishmizzine. The website will provide a forum for informing people of their efforts.

Technical support for this website has been provided by Hani Michel Hani Najjar who is hosting it and has assigned two of the staff members of his company, HIC Media, to provide technical support for the development of the site. Thank you Patrick Beyrouthy and Rosy Ghssoub for your ability and your patience.

Active contributors to the content of the website so far include:

   Patricia Mihaly Nabti
    Walid Said Najjar
    Leila Nabil Najjar Mufarrij
    Alia Samir Fares
    Reem Raif Mufarrij
    Maya Jibran Mina
    Fawzi Basili Kalash
    Michel Georges Nabti
    Anthony Niqula Bou Shahine
    Reem Jameleddine
    Jad Chammas

We welcome others to join our efforts and be included in the list as they actively contribute to the content of this website.