Paul Bedjan (27 November 1838 – 9 June 1920) was an

Assyrian Assyrian may refer to: * Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia. * Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire. ** Early Assyrian Period ** Old Assyrian Period ** Middle Assyrian Empire ** Neo-Assyrian Empire * Assyrian ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

of the

Chaldean Catholic Church , native_name_lang = syc , image = Assyrian Church.png , imagewidth = 200px , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Our Lady of Sorrows Baghdad, Iraq , abbreviation = , type ...

and a Syriacist and orientalist. Born in Khosrova,

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, an ethnic

, he was born into a Chaldean Catholic family, and enrolled as a pupil at the French

Lazarist , logo = , image = Vincentians.png , abbreviation = CM , nickname = Vincentians, Paules, Lazarites, Lazarists, Lazarians , established = , founder = Vincent de Paul , fou ...

School in Khosrova in 1846. On 27 October 1856, at the age of eighteen, he became a Lazarist

novice A novice is a person who has entered a religious order and is under probation, before taking vows. A ''novice'' can also refer to a person (or animal e.g. racehorse) who is entering a profession A profession is a field of work that has ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. On 25 May 1861, Bedjan was ordained priest there, and, after a few months, returned to Persia/Iran, taking a small

reed organ The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. T ...

and

printing press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a printing, print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in wh ...

with him. Until 1880, he worked as a pastor and organist in his home town, and in

Urmia Urmia or Orumiyeh ( fa, ارومیه, Variously transliterated as ''Oroumieh'', ''Oroumiyeh'', ''Orūmīyeh'' and ''Urūmiyeh''.) is the largest city in West Azerbaijan Province of Iran and the capital of Urmia County. It is situated at an alt ...

. He then returned to France to raise funds for the printing of

liturgical Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...

and

theological Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

works in

Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...

. From 1885 to 1900, he was active in

Ans Ans or ANS or ''variation'', may refer to: Places * Ans, Belgium, a municipality in Belgium * Ans, Denmark, a village in Denmark * Angus, Scotland, UK; a council area by its Chapman code * Ainsdale railway station, England, UK (by station code ...

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. He was then appointed pastor to the Daughters of Charity at the Vinzenz-Hospital in the northern Cologne suburb of Nippes, a role that he carried out, alongside his editorial work, until his death. He refused repeated calls that he be made the Chaldean Catholic Church

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

of Salamas. Of his works, his seven edited volumes of Syriac lives of saints and martyrs (''Acta Martyrum et Sanctorum'') and five volumes of verse-homilies of

Jacob of Serugh Jacob of Sarug ( syr, ܝܥܩܘܒ ܣܪܘܓܝܐ, ''Yaʿquḇ Sruḡāyâ'', ; his toponym is also spelled ''Serug'' or ''Serugh''; la, Iacobus Sarugiensis; 451 – 29 November 521), also called Mar Jacob, was one of the foremost Syriac poet-the ...

(''Homiliae selectae Mar Iacobi Sarugensis'') are the most significant. He was able to complete a Neo-Aramaic

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

translation shortly before the end of his life. He died in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Major works

* Breviarium Chaldaicum, 3 volumes of ~3000 pages (1886–1887), photomechanischer Nachdruck: Rom 1938. * * Histoire de Mar Jab-Alaha, Patriarche (1888, 2nd ed 1995; reprint Gorgias, 2007). * Nomocanon Gregorii Barhebraei (1898). * Ethicon, seu Moralia Gregorii Barhebraei (1898) (reprint Mor Gabriel Monastery, 2018).
''S.Martyrii qui et Sahdona quae supersunt omnia''
Paris: O. Harrassowitz, 1902. * Homiliae selectae Mar Iacobi Sarugensis, 5 volumes (1905–1910). * Nestorius, Le livre d'Héraclide de Damas (1910).

References

* Nemrod Simono
''Paul Bedjan Biography''
Tehran, 1984 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bedjan, Paul Chaldean Catholics Vincentians 1838 births 1920 deaths People from Salmas Iranian Assyrian people Iranian expatriates in France Iranian expatriates in Belgium Iranian emigrants to Germany Syriacists