Skip to main content

Fayez A. Sayegh photograph collection

 Collection
Identifier: P1896

Scope and Contents

The boxes are mostly organized by date, except for box 1 which consists of photos of Fayez. Additional dates can be located on individual folders inside of the boxes, which are also organized chronologically. Locations with a larger than average number of photos were given their own box for easier access, but still kept in chronological order in relation to the other boxes. The collection consists of slides, photographs, and negatives. The collection is arranged into five series:

Series I: Photos of Fayez Sayegh consists of Box 1, which contains primarily portraits of Fayez A. Sayegh throughout his life and career.

Series II dates from 1946 through 1961 and contains photographs of Sayegh's education, career, and travels. Box 2 contains photographs of Washington, D.C. and various locations in Europe. Box 3 contains primarily photographs of Lebanon and Syria.

Series III dates from 1960 to 1962 and depicts the Sayegh family in the American West. Box 4 contains photographs of a family home in Palo Alto, California between 1960 and 1962. Box 5 primarily contains images of locations in the region of San Francisco, California in 1962. Box 6 contains images depicting Sayegh family travel to National Parks and National Monuments in the American West in 1962.

Series IV dates from 1963 to 1967. It consists of one box, Box 7, which contains images depicting Fayez Sayegh and family during a fellowship at Oxford and baby; images taken in Minnesota; and family photographs of Reema Sayegh. The box also contains images of travel to other locations, such as Beirut, Lebanon.

Series V dates from 1972 to 1979. Box 8 contains images of Sayegh family travels to Hawaii depicting two trips, one in 1972 and another in 1975. Box 9 contains images of Sayegh family travels as well as the family homes and images of Reema Sayegh as a child.

Dates

  • 1946-1980

Conditions Governing Access

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.

Conditions Governing Use

The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library’s Use Agreement and Reproduction Request forms.

Biographical / Historical

Fayez Abdullah Sayegh was born in 1922 in Kharaba, Syria to Afifa Batruni and Abdullah Sayegh. His father was a Presbyterian minister from Syria while his mother was from al-Bassa, Palestine. The family lived in Tiberias and Sayegh attended school in Safed, both located in modern-day Israel. The family surname is also transliterated as “Sayigh”.

Sayegh received a bachelor’s degree from the American University of Beirut in 1941 and a master’s in 1945. In 1949, he received a Ph.D. in philosophy with a minor in political science from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Sayegh taught at Stanford and Yale Universities, Macalester College, and the American University of Beirut, and was a fellow at St. Antony's College, Oxford University, England. With his wife, Arlene Briem Sayegh, Fayez A. Sayegh had one daughter, Reema.

From 1967 until his death in 1980, Dr. Sayegh served as Senior Consultant to the Kuwait Ministry of Foreign Affairs and as a member of the Delegation of Kuwait to the United Nations. He held previous diplomatic posts as Advisor to the Delegation of Lebanon, Counselor of the Yemen Delegation and Minister/Permanent Observer of the League of Arab States, at the United Nations.

An outspoken proponent of human rights, Dr. Sayegh was one of eighteen experts elected (in their personal capacities) in 1969 to the newly-established United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. At the United Nations, Sayegh challenged Israel’s arguments and urged the United Nations to uphold international law and human rights for occupied people. He was elected to three successive four-year terms as the Committees Rapporteur.

Sayegh founded the Palestine Research Center in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1965, and was a member of the Palestine National Council. At the Palestinian Research Center, Sayegh helped establish the journal Shu’un Filastiniyya in 1971. The recipient of many honors, Dr. Sayegh was decorated by the President of Lebanon with the Cedar's Medal, rank of Commander, the highest civilian medal offered by the Lebanese Government.

Fayez A. Sayegh was a prolific lecturer and writer. His books and monographs have appeared in translation in sixteen languages. Among his works, the 1965 study Zionist Colonialism in Palestine is credited as developing the concept of Zionist settler colonialism. Other significant English-language works include The Palestinian Refugees (1952), The Arab-Israel Conflict (1956), and The Record of Israel at the United Nations (1957). In addition to writing, Sayegh appeared on American television to comment on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, engaged in debates on the topic, and lectured widely.

Fayez Sayegh died in New York City in December 1980. He was buried in Beirut, Lebanon.

Sources: Killgore, A. (2005). In Memoriam: 25 Years After His Death, Dr. Fayez Sayegh’s Towering Legacy Lives On . Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, 22-23.

Fayez Sayigh. (2024). In Wikipedia. Retrieved June 20, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fayez_Sayigh

Extent

2.9 Linear Feet (9 archives boxes) : 4,211 items

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Fayez A. Sayegh (1922-1980) was a scholar, educator, and diplomat who wrote about Palestine, Israel, and Zionism. This collection consists of slides, photographs, and negatives relating to Fayez Sayegh's career and personal life, particularly his family life and travels with wife Arlene Briem Sayegh and daughter, from 1946-1979. Included are photos of Fayez and Arlene Sayegh, their family, their house, and vacations across the United States, Europe and the Middle East.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged chronologically.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated by Arlene Sayegh on November 28, 2011. Addendum May 29, 2018.

Separated Materials

See also the Fayez A. Sayegh collection on the Arab-Israeli conflict (ACCN 2545) in the Manuscripts Division and Fayez A. Sayegh audio-visual collection (A0576) in the Multimedia Division of Special Collections.

Processing Information

Title
Fayez A. Sayegh photograph collection
Status
Completed
Author
Finding aid written by Special Collections staff.
Date
2024
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
The finding aid was written in English.

Repository Details

Part of the J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections Repository

Contact:
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City Utah 84112 United States
801-581-8863