Berouti Family Photo Archive: Memories from Jaffa Before the Nakba
Below are photos collected from various sources, primarily from different family members. Individuals whose identities are known have been labeled, but we need your help in recognizing more people. If you can confidently identify someone, please reach out.
Family Pictures
Victoria Habib Fi'ani and Emile Nicolas Berouti, Jaffa, ca. 1921.
Negib Berouti and Victoria Araktingi with their eight children, ca. 1925.
Claire Gelat (sitting down) and Yvette Gelat, Jaffa, ca. 1935
Berthe Gargour and Alexandre Berouti's family
Catherine Berouti with her children on the stoop of their house in Talbiyeh, West Jerusalem, ca. 1936. Check out the entry about this house in the Discoveries section, titled “Catherine Berouti and Elias Gelat’s House in Jerusalem.”
Catherine Berouti and Elias Thomas Gelat's children. From left to right: Antoine Gelat, Norma Gelat, Vivianne Gelat, and Gloria Gelat, Jerusalem, ca. 1936
Robert Berouti (left) and Michel Berouti, Jaffa, mid 1930s
Michel (left) and Robert Berouti, Jaffa, ca. 1933
First cousins Charles Emile Berouti (left) and Antoine Gebran Berouti
Michel Berouti as a baby, with his uncle François, Jaffa, ca. 1927
Marie Berouti and Alexandre Gelat
Victoria Fi'ani and Emile Nicolas Berouti, with their youngest son, Charles Emile, Jaffa
Tafeeda Masamiri (Victor Berouti's wife), with her children Alexandre and Maurice, early 1930s
Charles Emile Berouti and Samira Halabi
Weddings and Celebrations
Charles Emile Berouti and Samira Halabi's wedding, Jaffa, April 1944
Samira Halabi on her wedding day, Jaffa, 1944
Leyla Tyan and George Emile Berouti's wedding, July 1946
George Emile Berouti and Leyla Tyan's wedding, Jaffa, 1946.
Leyla Tyan and George Emile Berouti's wedding, July 1946. Counterclockwise, starting from the tall girl on the left: Marlène Berouti, Andrée Berouti, Françoise Talamas, and Norma Gelat.
Leyla Tyan and George Emile Berouti's wedding, July 1946
Charles Emile Berouti (in the white suit). Behind him are Alexandre Berouti and Antoine Gelat, at George and Leyla's wedding, St. Anthony's Latin Church, Jaffa, 1946.
Salma Berouti on her wedding day, with her brother Joseph Berouti, Jaffa, February 1947
Salma Berouti and Elias Kettaneh's wedding at St. Anthony Latin Church, Jaffa, February 1947. The witnesses were Najla Berouti and Alexandre kettaneh.
This is probably a Berouti wedding, however, the couple is still unknown. The little blond girl in the front center is Yvette Gelat. The boy to the left of her in the picture, holding the flowers and looking to the side, is Michel Berouti. Judging from the apparent age of these two children and knowing their dates of birth, I would estimate this wedding to have taken place around 1932.
Wedding of Rita Gargour and Georges Damiani, 1935. Emile Berouti is identified as one of the two children in the photo. I suspect he is the child on the far left; however, Emile was born in 1935. Could the wedding date be incorrect? Might it have taken place around 1945 instead? The other child is identified as Gilbert Gargour. Other adults present include Nabil Nazzal and Peter Barakat. I believe I also recognize Charles Emile Berouti at the bottom of the photo, holding Gilbert Gargour. Source: يافا عطر مدينة (“Jaffa, Perfume of a City”), 1991, p. 232.
Everyday Life in Jaffa
Salma Berouti, with friend Louis Zamaria.
Siblings Michel (left) and Robert (center) Berouti with their cousin, Alexandre Beyrouti, Jaffa, ca. 1935
Friends in Jaffa, 1942
Friends in Jaffa, 1942
From left to right: George Emile Berouti, Louba Halabi, Elie Roch, and Salma Berouti, Jaffa, 1944
The young child in front is Alexandre Beyrouti. I suspect that the house in the background was inhabited by one of the Berouti families. I wonder if it is still standing today.
Charles Emile Berouti and Samira Halabi as an engaged couple, Jaffa, 1943
Claire Gelat (left) and Yvette Gelat, Jaffa
Victorine Berouti (née Zamaria), Jaffa, 1924
Masquerade party at Alfred Roch's house, Jaffa, 1925. Other people in the picture include: Antoine Roch, Isabelle Roch, Loktania Roch, Eveline Roch, Arthur Roch, Adelaide Roch, Johnny Rohy Al-Khalidi, and Edmond Roch. Source: يافا عطر مدينة (“Jaffa, Perfume of a City”), 1991, p. 159.
Les Soeurs de Saint-Joseph school for girls, 1925. The caption in Arabic indicates that Salma Berouti is in this picture. She was about 12 years old. Can anyone identify her with high certainty? Source: يافا عطر مدينة (“Jaffa, Perfume of a City”), 1991, p. 170.
Counterclockwise, starting with the boy in front wearing the white hat: Robert Berouti, Yvette Gelat, Michel Berouti, Claire Gelat, and Alexandre Beyrouti. The adult male's identity is uncertain, but he is likely to be Victor Berouti.
Alexandre Beyrouti as a child, possibly with his father Victor, early 1930s.
Alexandre Victor Beyrouti
Victorine Berouti with her son Michel, Jaffa, May 1928
Nicolas Berouti with his son Michel, Jaffa, May 1928
Jean Negib Berouti, on the far left of the picture. Second from the left is Amine Akel, ca. 1925. Source: Les Palestiniens, Elias Sanbar, 2004.
Individuals
Marie Berouti, Jaffa, 1916
Charles Emile Berouti, with his dog, Bruno, Jaffa, ca. 1918
Charles Emile Berouti, Jaffa, ca. 1920
Claire Gelat, Jaffa, ca. 1928
Antoine Elias Gelat
Nicolas Gelat, 1935
Michel Berouti. Undated picture, from his obituary in the Newspaper "Falastin". You can read the full obituary in the "Archives" section under "Obituaries in Falastin".
Jacques Berouti as young boy.
Jacques Berouti
Emile Alexandre Berouti
Leyla Tyan
Gloria Gelat
Norma Gelat
Alexandre Gelat, Jaffa 1914. Source: Salt Research's archival collection
Charles Emile Berouti
Elias Thomas Gelat
Victorine Berouti (née Zamaria), Jaffa, ca. 1924
Victorine Berouti (née Zamaria), Jaffa, ca. 1924
Maurice Beyrouti
Charles Emile Berouti, Jaffa, 1923
Marie Berouti
Alexandre Victor Beyrouti
Yvette Gelat, Ramallah, ca. 1950
Georges Berouti, son of Michel Berouti and Julia Araktingi, 1914. Photograph taken by the legendary Jerusalen Photographer Garabed Krikorian
Elias Thomas Gelat as a child, Jerusalem. Picture taken by Photographer Khalil Raad