Sfeir

Sfeir (Arabic: صفير) is a Maronite Christian clan surname from Lebanon, which appears with the highest density in the mountainous Keserwan District. As a result of the Lebanese diaspora, the name has flourished in North and South America, Western Europe, Australia, the Arabian peninsula, and west Africa.

Although there is no consensus agreement on the origin of the name, most scholars believe the name comes from the Arabic word for the color yellow (or sulphur), suggesting that clansmen wore yellow tunics or carried a yellow banner (during the Crusades, the flag of the Kingdom of Jerusalem consisted of a grid of yellow or gold crosses on a white background). Some say that it derives from the Arabic word for ambassador or mediator (see As-Safir). Still others indicate that it may derive from the Hebrew word for the gem stone saphhire (denoting perhaps jewelers or traders in gems). A few state that it may derive from the Arabic noun for whistling or singing, perhaps suggesting that the Sfeir may have been either archers or falconers (during the Crusades, the chronicler William of Tyre reported that the Maronites were well known for their prowess in archery). In any case, the clan legend is that a Crusader King, most likely Godfrey of Bouillon, granted to the Sfeir clan a portion of what is today the Keserwan District of Mount Lebanon, which was the northern frontier of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, as a reward for their loyalty to his reign and bravery in battle. In the village of Kleiat, there is a convent, founded in the 17th century by chevalier Nader Sfeir, called the Convent of the Sfeir (Couvent des Sfeir). To this day, the motto of Keserwan is "the Christians' Castle."

Members of the Sfeir clan have achieved prominence as clergymen and women, scholars, artists, diplomats, businessmen and women, scientists, medical doctors, lawyers, civil engineers and architects, and other professions and trades. People with the Sfeir surname (occasionally spelled Sfair in Latin script) include the following:

• Pietro Sfair (1888-1974), archbishop of the Maronite Catholic Church and council father at the Second Vatican Council
• Alfredo Sfeir (born 1947), Chilean economist, spiritual leader and healer
• Andree Sfeir-Semler (born 1953), Lebanese-German art historian and gallery owner
• Antoine Sfeir (1948–2018), Franco-Lebanese journalist and professor
• Dahd Sfeir (1932–2015), Uruguayan actress, winner of Helen Hayes Prize
• Jacqueline Sfeir (1956–2013), Palestinian educator and academic
• Mauricio González Sfeir (born 1956), Bolivian petroleum company executive and football soccer promoter
• Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir (1920–2019), cardinal and patriarch of the Maronite Catholic Church
• Nelly Sfeir Gonzalez ( ), American academic librarian, award-winning bibliographer and journal editor
• Paul Sfeir (1965), Chilean engineer, radio journalist, politician (Constitutional council)
• Salim Sfeir (born 1944), Lebanese – Swiss banker & philanthropist, chairman of the Association of Banks in Lebanon

Bibliography

• Fahd, Butros (1974). Arciescovo Pietro Sfair grande orientalista e predicatore, vita e opere [Archbishop Pietro Sfair great orientalist and preacher, life and work] (in Italian). Rome: Matabi al-Karim al-Hadithath.
• Antoine Khoury Harb, The Maronites: History and Constants (ASIN B000B0F6NU)
• Matti Moosa, The Maronites in History (ISBN 1-59333-182-7)
• Richard Van Leeuwen, Notables and Clergy in Mount Lebanon: The Khāzin Sheikhs and the Maronite Church (1736-1840) (ISBN 90-04-09978-6)
• Farid el-Khazen, The Breakdown of the State in Lebanon, 1967-1976 (ISBN 0-674-08105-6)
• William Harris, Lebanon: A History, 600-2011 (ISBN 978-0-19-518111-1)
• Salibi, Kamal S. (1959). Maronite Historians of Medieval Lebanon. Beirut: American University of Beirut.
• Salibi, Kamal (June 1967). "Northern Lebanon under the Dominance of Ġazīr (1517–1591)". Arabica. 14 (2): 144–166. doi:10.1163/157005867X00029. JSTOR 4055631.
• Salibi, Kamal S. (1988). A House of Many Mansions: The History of Lebanon Reconsidered. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520071964.
• Catholic-Hierarchy