Nicolas Sursock (1875–1952) was a Lebanese art collector and a prominent member of the

Sursock family The Sursock family (also spelled Sursuq) is a Greek Orthodox Christian family from Lebanon, and used to be one of the most important families of Beirut. Having originated in Constantinople during the Byzantine Empire, the family has lived in Beir ...

, one of the old aristocratic families of

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

Legacy

Nicolas Sursock died in 1952 and is probably best known for bequeathing his private villa to the city of Beirut, to be transformed into a museum of modern art. The villa is now known as the Nicolas Sursock Museum. ;Last Will and Testament :''"As I love fine arts and long for their expansion, particularly in my homeland,

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

, as I wish this country would receive a substantial part of fine arts, and my fellow citizens would appreciate art and develop an artistic instinct, for this purpose that I pursue and that I can only be beneficial and contribute to Lebanon's development, I wish there would exist in Beirut, capital of the Republic of Lebanon, museums and exhibition rooms open to everyone, where master-pieces and antiques would be preserved and displayed.'' :''"…I therefore set up in the form of ''waqf'' (

mortmain Mortmain () is the perpetual, inalienable ownership of real estate by a corporation or legal institution; the term is usually used in the context of its prohibition. Historically, the land owner usually would be the religious office of a church ...

) all of the real estate and its contents form a museum for arts, ancient and modern, coming from the territory of the Republic of Lebanon, the other Arab countries or elsewhere, as well as a room where the Lebanese artists' works shall be exhibited. It being understood that this museum shall remain eternally and perpetually (…)"''

— Nicolas Sursock {{Cite web , url=http://www.daratalfunun.org/main/activit/curentl/lebanon_art/exhib7.html , title=Darat al Funun currently on , access-date=2007-02-23 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070423231150/http://www.daratalfunun.org/main/activit/curentl/lebanon_art/exhib7.html , archive-date=2007-04-23 , url-status=dead

References

{{Reflist {{Authority control {{DEFAULTSORT:Sursock, Nicolas Businesspeople from Beirut Lebanese art collectors Greek Orthodox Christians from Lebanon Sursock family 1875 births 1952 deaths

Legacy

See also

References