Mikhail Mishaqa

Mikhail Mishaqa
first United States Vice Consul in Damascus in 1859
Born	March 20, 1800 Rashmayyā, Ottoman Syria
Died	July 19, 1888 Damascus, Ottoman Syria
Known for	diplomat, physician, historian, musical theorist, businessman, first vice-consul of USA in Damascus in 1859-1870

Mikhail Mishaqa or Michael Mishaka (1800–1888; Arabic: ميخائيل مشاقة‎‎), also known as Doctor Mishaqa, was born in Rashmayyā, Lebanon, and is reputed to be "the first historian of modern Ottoman Syria" as well as the "virtual founder of the twenty-four equal quarter tone scale". Mishaqa's memoir of the 1860 Mount Lebanon civil war is valuable to historians, as it is the only account written by a survivor of the massacre of Syrian Christians in Damascus, Syria.

Mikhail's great-grandfather, Jirjis Mishaqa I, converted to Greek Catholicism. Jirjis' father, Youssef Petraki, an ethnic Greek and Christian Orthodox, moved from Corfu, Greece to Tripoli, Lebanon to pursue the silk trade. As such, Petraki, named himself after an Arabic term describing the process of filtering silk fibers, mishaqa (مشقة). Mikhail's father, Jirjis Mishaqa II, moved to Deir al-Qamar, then controlled by the Shihabs, to escape the religious repression of al-Jazzar, the governor of Sidon. He began a career as a goldsmith but became a scribe and then chief treasurer for the Amir of Mount Lebanon, Bashir II's household. According to Leila Fawaz, Mikhail was well-educated; At the first opportunity he showed of his knowledge and the ignorance of the offender. In such ways, Mishaqa continued to educate himself. He taught himself medicine and became a doctor; in 1859 he was appointed vice-consul of the United States in Damascus.