Michel and Georges Saykali Letters 1912-1969

The bulk of the collection is written in Arabic, with some in French, Spanish, and English.

Michel Saykali grew up in Beirut, Lebanon and had multiple sisters named Victoria, Shafika, and Zekie along with a brother, George. George Saykali married a woman named Slawa in Beirut and had multiple children, including a son named Joe. Michel Saykali immigrated to Colombia circa 1920, while his family remained in Lebanon. While in Colombia, Michel became an entrepreneur. Throughout his time in South America he opened multiple businesses with different partners and traveled throughout the continent. The remainder of his family stayed in Lebanon where they continued to work. Michel Saykali would frequently send money in his letters to his family in Lebanon and would express the desire to return to his homeland. 

In 1957, Joe Saykali, George’s son, joined Michel in Cucuta and began to work with him. Two years later in 1959, Joe returned to Lebanon and continued various work. Michel did not return to Lebanon until 1962, but then quickly returned to Colombia after attending Joe Saykali’s wedding.

The collection consists of over four hundred Saykali family written letters, radiograms, and telegrams, mainly between Michel and Georges. From 1912 to 1969, they discuss various topics such as work and family affairs, economic and political events, as well as immigration and travel.

Original collection title: Collection of Letters from Colombia

Materials in this collection are arranged chronologically by year.

The Khayrallah Center claims only physical ownership of the materials. Due to the nature of archival collections, information about copyright and rights ownership in the materials may be difficult to find despite reasonable efforts. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.

[Identification of item], Michel and Georges Saykali Letters, KC 0061, Hoda Z. Nassour and Herbert R. Nassour Jr., MD, Archive of Lebanese Diaspora

Materials purchased by the Khayrallah Center, 2022 March (Accession No. 2022.009).

Processed by Celine Shay, Anna Maria Hester, and Dr. Amin Elias, 2022-2024. Finding aid created by Laura Lethers and Ginni Leeman, 2024 July. Finding aid updated by Laura Lethers to reflect updated collection title, 2024 September.