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Draft:Emilio Sfeir

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Emilio Sfeir (born December 25, 1898 in Kleiat, Keserwan, Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate, Ottoman Empire; died June 24, 1970 in Cochabamba, Bolivia) was a Lebanese-Bolivian entrepreneur and a hero of Bolivian counter-intelligence during the Chaco War against Paraguay.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] Sfeir was a younger brother of the Most Reverend Pietro Sfair, the Maronite Catholic Titular Archbishop of Nisibis and a Council Father at the Second Vatican Council. [10] [11]

Family

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Sfeir's birth name was Emmanuel Emile Sfeir. When he emigrated to South America, he became known as Manuel Emilio Sfeir. Sfeir's father was Georges Sfeir and his mother was Philoumene Sfeir. [12] (For background information on the family history, see Sfeir) The names of some of his siblings were Salim, Boutros Javad, Chaia, Maria, Racquel, Antoun and Isaie. [13] He was educated in Lebanon at two Catholic schools run by French missionary priests--St. Gergoes School in Kleiat, Keserwan District (a school originally founded by family ancestor Abi-Dagher Sfeir) and St. Joseph School in Cornet Chahwan, Matn District. Although he never completed high school or attended university, Sfeir was an avid reader of newspapers and encyclopedias and a strong believer in education and technology. He made sure that his children learned touch type writing, and he was one of the first in Bolivia to own a motorcycle. A cousin was Cardinal Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir, Maronite Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and All the East.

Sfeir married Maria Balbina Cabero Candia in Cochabamba, Bolivia in 1923. She was the great granddaughter of Salvador Cabero Rollano, one of the founders of the first general hospital in Cochabamba (Hospital Viedma).[14] She was also the great grandniece of the Bishop of Cochabamba Angel Maria Zeballos. Emilio and Maria had five children: Jorge, Jose, Blanca Filomena, Nelly Esther (Nelly Sfeir Gonzalez), and Yolanda. [15] Daughter Blanca Filomena was an economist who earned a Masters degree in business from the University of Iowa in 1950; she was the first Bolivian woman to receive a scholarship from the Institute of International Education (the predecessor to the Fulbright Scholarship). [16] Daughter Nelly Esther (Nelly Sfeir Gonzalez) was a suffragete and lawyer in Bolivia and an academic librarian, bibliographer and journal editor in the United States. The comedian Alejandro Hangano Cassab, known as “el Gran Sandy”, famous for his summertime appearances at the Festival de Vina del Mar in Chile, was Sfeir's grand nephew.[17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] Sfeir was born and raised in the Maronite Catholic church. During his lifetime, however, there was no Maronite Catholic church in Bolivia. Thus, he raised his own children in the Roman Catholic church, counting as a friend the Bishop of the City of La Paz, Most Reverend Abel Isidoro Antezana y Rojas.

As a result of his life experiences and his talent for learning languages, Sfeir learned to speak, read and write, with native fluency, Arabic, French and Spanish. In addition, he gained a proficiency in Quechua sufficient to recite poetry in this language. And, although he was a confirmed Francophile and admirer of General Charles DeGaulle, Sfeir concluded in young adulthood that English would be the dominant world language in the lives of his children. Therefore, he enrolled his children at the American Institute (“Amerinst”) in La Paz, a school founded by Methodist missionaries from New York in 1907 and where the primary language of instruction was English. Two of his daughters earned master's degrees from universities in the United States.

Sfeir has 17 grandchildren, of which only three currently reside in Bolivia. The rest live in the United States. Approximately one half (eight) of Sfeir’s grandchildren made careers in the medical profession—seven are physicians and one is a nurse. Bolivian secretary of energy, petroleum executive and football-soccer promoter Mauricio Gonzalez Sfeir is a grandson. Swiss-Lebanese banker Salim Sfeir may be the grandson of Sfeir's older brother.

Journey to South America: from Mount Lebanon to the Andes

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In the summer of 1913, when he was 14 years old,[23] Sfeir traveled by sea from Beirut, Ottoman Empire to Buenos Aires, Argentina, with his older sister, acting as her chaperone. An additional reason his family sent him on the voyage may have been to avoid his forcible military Conscription in the Ottoman Empire. "In July 1909 military service was made compulsory for all Ottoman subjects."[24] Recruitment age was between ages 15 and 30. Sfeir's parents had good reason to be concerned. In February 1912, during the Italo-Turkish War, the Italian Regia Marina had bombarded the port of Beirut during the Battle of Beirut (1912), destroying the Ottoman navy.

Sfeir's sister Raquel was traveling to South America to be reunited with her husband Mr. Jose Cassab, who had established a textile factory in Cochabamba, Bolivia. World War One broke out in August 1914, and Sfeir never booked a return passage to his home in Lebanon. In this way, Sfeir was spared from the Great Famine of Mount Lebanon of 1915-1918, during which crucible the population of Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate (mostly Maronite Christian) fell by approximately 50%. The traumatic separation from his mother, plus the death of his older sister during childbirth when he was in his mid twenties, left life-long psychological scars, including a debilitating addiction to compulsive gambling. Sfeir lost several small fortunes at the gaming table, plunging his family into precarious financial conditions.

Entrepreneurial Ventures

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Sfeir's first job in South America was translating World War One news cables from Europe from French into Spanish (he had received a French education in Lebanon). Beginning in 1915 and through the 1920s, Sfeir worked with his brother-in-law Cassab at his textile factory in the City of Cochabamba. From 1928 through 1934, Sfeir established himself in Jujuy, Argentina, as a merchant in silver items and vicuña quilts and skins.[25] [26] In the late 1930s, Sfeir owned a lamb leather tanning factory in the City of Oruro.[27] In the 1940s, Sfeir owned a transportation business in the City of La Paz. In the 1950s and 1960s, Sfeir was engaged in import-export actitivies and assisted in the expansion of the textile factory Fabrica Said in the City of La Paz. Sfeir was a congenial extrovert. He could often be found at the Club de La Paz social club having coffee and discussing current events with acquaintances or at the Club Árabe, where he was sought out by fellow members to write Arabic language letters to relatives back home in the old country. Kemel Nemtala, founder of San Jorge Imports, was a friend and business associate.[28]

Service to Country: Capture of the Paraguayan Master Spy Juan Valori

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During the Chaco War between Bolivia and Paraguay, Sfeir masterminded the planning and execution of the abduction in February 1934, on Argentine territory, of Juan Valori, the Paraguayan master spy operating in the Bolivia/Argentina border region, the main staging ground for the Bolivian forces sent into combat.[29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34][35] This was one of the most celebrated Bolivian counterintelligence successes of the entire Chaco War. [36] [37] [38]


As a result of this success, Sfeir became friends with the son of the Bolivian president Daniel Salamanca. A further result was that Sfeir was asked by President Salamanca in 1934 to lead an expedition of the Bolivian Central Bank to prospect for gold in Teoponte, a tropical region north of the capital city of La Paz, accessible only by foot trails. At the time, Bolivia had recently pegged its national currency to the gold standard, following the recommendations of the Kemmerer Commission.[39] As a result of the financial strain caused by the Chaco War, the Bolivian Central Bank was running low on gold reserves. Sfeir’s expedition was successful in bringing back to La Paz a mule train loaded with a significant amount of gold bullion. However, Sfeir also fell sick with malaria.

Political Activity: Gunrunner for MNR; imprisonment and escape from Island of the Moon on Lake Titicaca

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On August 9, 1949, the same day of his oldest son Jorge's wedding, Sfeir was arrested and charged with being a gun runner and conspiring to overthrow the government on behalf of the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (MNR) political party.[40] After being initially imprisoned and beaten up at the San Pedro prison in La Paz, he was transferred to the island prison of Isla de la Luna (Coati) on Lake Titicaca. [41] There he met and befriended Hernan Siles Zuazo, one of the senior leaders of the MNR party and a future vice president and two-time president of Bolivia. In September 1949, they escaped together from the island prison, after bribing a guard and commandering a motorboat, eventually crossing the Peruvian border on foot, with the Bolivian police in hot pursuit, and obtaining political asylum in Juli, Peru. [42] 

Following the Bolivian National Revolution of 1952, Hernan Siles Zuazo served as vice president of Bolivia from 1952 to 1956 and president of Bolivia from 1956 to 1960. Sfeir's grand nephew Alejandro Hangano Cassab, the future comedian el "Gran Sandy", served as a motorcycle bodyguard to Hernan Siles Zuazo during his presidential term.

Personal quotes

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  • "A man who knows two languages is worth two men." (quoting a French proverb)
  • "Gane y gaste!" (Earn a lot [of money], and spend a lot!)
  • "Participation in politics is beneficial, but it is best to participate indirectly, behind the scenes."
  • "The [only] inheritance I shall leave you is your education and your brains." [43]

References

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  1. ^ "Nelly Sfeir Gonzalez". Champaign-Urbana News Gazette. December 12, 2020.
  2. ^ Sfeir, Emilio (January 22, 1935). "Capture of Juan Valori, Paraguayan master spy of the Chaco War" (in Spanish). Letter to President Jose Luis Tejada Sorzano. La Paz, Bolivia: Archivo de La Paz, Casa Montes, documentos personales del Presidente Jose Luis Tejada Sorzano.
  3. ^ "La Captura de un As del Espionaje Guarani da lugar a una Reclamacion por parte de las Autoridades del Plata" [The Capture of an Ace of Paraguayan Espionage gives rise to a Diplomatic Complaint by Argentine Authorities]. El Universal newspaper (in Spanish). La Paz, Bolivia. February 19, 1934. Las autoridades fronterizas de Bolivia habian estado vigilando al espia Juan Valori y lo capturaron en territorio nacional en una de sus incursiones. Valori es uno de los autores de los sucesos de Campo Victoria, Gondra y Alihuata. [Bolivian border guards had had the spy Juan Valori under surveillance and they captured him in Bolivian territory during one of Valori's incursions into Bolivia. Valori is one of the masterminds of the [battlefield] victories at Campo Victoria, Gondra and Alihuata.]
  4. ^ "Valori era jefe del espionaje paraguayo en la zona fronteriza con la Argentina" [Valori was the Paraguayan spy chief in the Bolivia-Argentina border region]. Ultima Hora newsaper (in Spanish). La Paz, Bolivia. February 21, 1934. Valori operaba en La Quiaca, penetrando, cada vez que tenia necesidad de hacerlo, en el territorio boliviano, usando diferentes disfraces y documentos falsos, e internándose luego, so pretexto de tener que atender a sus actividades comerciales, en el centro mismo de la zona militar boliviana, donde su destreza y habilidad le permitían recoger toda clase de informaciones valiosas para el enemigo que, luego de vuelta a La Quiaca, transmitía al Paraguay por medio del telégrafo argentino. [Valori operated in La Quiaca entering Bolivian territory each time that he needed to, using different disguises and forged documents, embedding himself, under the cover of attending to his commercial activities, in the very center of the Bolivian military zone, where his skill and ability permitted him to collect all kinds of valuable information for the enemy, which upon his return to La Quiaca, he transmitted to Paraguay by means of the Argentine telegraph system.]
  5. ^ "La legacion argentina en La Paz formulo ya la protesta ordenada; En la capital boliviana se da una versión sobre el arresto de Valori" [The Argentine legation in La Paz has already formulated the ordered complaint; In the Bolivian capital they have their own version of Valori's arrest]. La Nacion newspaper (in Spanish). Buenos Aires, Argentina. February 22, 1934.
  6. ^ Mejillones-Quispe, Guillermo (March 2017). "La Exitosa Operacion Sfeir en la Guerra del Chaco" [The Successful Operation Sfeir during the Chaco War].
  7. ^ Mejillones-Quispe, Guillermo (March 2017). El Servicio de Inteligencia Entre 1927-1938: El Espionaje, Contraespionaje de Bolivia Durante la Guerra del Chaco [The Intelligence Service Between 1927-1938: Bolivian Espionage and Counterespionage during the Chaco War] (Licenciatura thesis). La Paz, Bolivia: Universidad Mayor de San Andres Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación Carrera de Historia. pp. 121–128. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  8. ^ Llajtamasi, Homero (November 21, 2024). "Las aventuras de película de Emilio Sfeir" [The larger-than-life adventures of Emilio Sfeir]. Opinion newspaper (in Spanish). Cochabamba, Bolivia. Retrieved November 28, 2024.
  9. ^ Zook, Jr., David H. (1960). The Conduct of the Chaco War. New York: Bookman Associates. p. 280.
  10. ^ Fahd, Butros (1974). Arcivescovo 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.
  11. ^ Melloni, Alberto (January 27, 2021). Atlante Storico del Concilio Vaticano II [Atlas of the Second Vatican Council] (in Italian). Milan: Editoriale Jaca Book. ISBN 978-88-16-60510-7.
  12. ^ Fahd, Butros (1974). Arcivescovo 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.
  13. ^ Fahd, Butros (1974). Arcivescovo 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.
  14. ^ "Nelly Sfeir Gonzalez". Champaign-Urbana News Gazette. December 12, 2020.
  15. ^ "Nelly Sfeir Gonzalez". Champaign-Urbana News Gazette. December 12, 2020.
  16. ^ "Nelly Sfeir Gonzalez". Champaign-Urbana News Gazette. December 12, 2020.
  17. ^ Christiansen, Axel (February 20, 2018). "Sandy y la historia del chiste mas correado de la Quinta Vergara" [Sandy and the story of the joke most chanted by the fans at the Vergara Estate]. La Tercera newspaper.
  18. ^ Sandy, Humor, Festival de Vina 1993. Vina del Mar, Chile: Festival Internacional de la Canción de Vina del Mar. 1999.
  19. ^ "Sandy, Humor, Festival de Vina 1993" (video). youtube.com (in Spanish). Festival Internacional de la Canción de Vina del Mar. August 22, 2014.
  20. ^ "Sandy, Humor, Festival de Vina 1999" (video). youtube.com (in Spanish). Festival Internacional de la Canción de Vina del Mar. December 21, 2014.
  21. ^ "Sandy, Humor, Festival de Vina 2004" (video). youtube.com (in Spanish). Festival Internacional de la Canción de Vina del Mar. March 13, 2015.
  22. ^ Calderon, Consuelo (July 21, 2024). "Recordando a Sandy: el histórico comediante de humor blanco que triunfo en el Festival de Vina y su compleja batalla contra la diabetes" [Remembering Sandy: the historic comedian of light humor who triumphed at the Vina Festival and his complex battle against diabetes] (in Spanish). Chile: La Cuarta El Diario Pop newspaper.
  23. ^ Sfeir, Emilio (January 22, 1935). "Capture of Juan Valori, Paraguayan master spy of the Chaco War" (in Spanish). Letter to President Jose Luis Tejada Sorzano. La Paz, Bolivia: Biblioteca Municipal, Archivo de Jose Luis Tejada Sorzano.
  24. ^ Zürcher, Erik Jan (1998). "The Ottoman Conscription System, 1844–1914". International Review of Social History. 43 (3): 447. doi:10.1017/S0020859098000248.
  25. ^ Mejillones-Quispe, Guillermo. "La Exitosa Operación Sfeir en la Guerra del Chaco".
  26. ^ Sfeir, Emilio (January 22, 1935). "Capture of Juan Valori, Paraguayan master spy of the Chaco War" (in Spanish). Letter to President Jose Luis Tejada Sorzano. La Paz, Bolivia: Biblioteca Municipal, Archivo de Jose Luis Tejada Sorzano.
  27. ^ "Nelly Sfeir Gonzalez". Champaign-Urbana News Gazette. December 12, 2020.
  28. ^ "San Jorge, la importadora centenaria de exquisiteces" [San Jorge, the centennial of an importer of luxury food & beverage]. Pagina Siete newspaper (in Spanish). La Paz, Bolivia. January 21, 2020. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
  29. ^ Sfeir, Emilio (January 22, 1935). "Capture of Juan Valori, Paraguayan master spy of the Chaco War" (in Spanish). Letter to President Jose Luis Tejada Sorzano. La Paz, Bolivia: Archivo de La Paz, Casa Montes, documentos personales del Presidente Jose Luis Tejada Sorzano.
  30. ^ "La Captura de un As del Espionaje Guarani da lugar a una Reclamacion por parte de las Autoridades del Plata" [The Capture of an Ace of Paraguayan Espionage gives rise to a Diplomatic Complaint by Argentine Authorities]. El Universal newspaper (in Spanish). La Paz, Bolivia. February 19, 1934. Las autoridades fronterizas de Bolivia habian estado vigilando al espia Juan Valori y lo capturaron en territorio nacional en una de sus incursiones. Valori es uno de los autores de los sucesos de Campo Victoria, Gondra y Alihuata. [Bolivian border guards had had the spy Juan Valori under surveillance and they captured him in Bolivian territory during one of Valori's incursions into Bolivia. Valori is one of the masterminds of the [battlefield] victories at Campo Victoria, Gondra and Alihuata.]
  31. ^ "Valori era jefe del espionaje paraguayo en la zona fronteriza con la Argentina" [Valori was the Paraguayan spy chief in the Bolivia-Argentina border region]. Ultima Hora newsaper (in Spanish). La Paz, Bolivia. February 21, 1934. Valori operaba en La Quiaca, penetrando, cada vez que tenia necesidad de hacerlo, en el territorio boliviano, usando diferentes disfraces y documentos falsos, e internándose luego, so pretexto de tener que atender a sus actividades comerciales, en el centro mismo de la zona militar boliviana, donde su destreza y habilidad le permitían recoger toda clase de informaciones valiosas para el enemigo que, luego de vuelta a La Quiaca, transmitía al Paraguay por medio del telégrafo argentino. [Valori operated in La Quiaca entering Bolivian territory each time that he needed to, using different disguises and forged documents, embedding himself, under the cover of attending to his commercial activities, in the very center of the Bolivian military zone, where his skill and ability permitted him to collect all kinds of valuable information for the enemy, which upon his return to La Quiaca, he transmitted to Paraguay by means of the Argentine telegraph system.]
  32. ^ "La legacion argentina en La Paz formulo ya la protesta ordenada; En la capital boliviana se da una versión sobre el arresto de Valori" [The Argentine legation in La Paz has already formulated the ordered complaint; In the Bolivian capital they have their own version of Valori's arrest]. La Nacion newspaper (in Spanish). Buenos Aires, Argentina. February 22, 1934.
  33. ^ Mejillones-Quispe, Guillermo (March 2017). "La Exitosa Operacion Sfeir en la Guerra del Chaco" [The Successful Operation Sfeir during the Chaco War].
  34. ^ Mejillones-Quispe, Guillermo (March 2017). El Servicio de Inteligencia Entre 1927-1938: El Espionaje, Contraespionaje de Bolivia Durante la Guerra del Chaco [The Intelligence Service Between 1927-1938: Bolivian Espionage and Counterespionage during the Chaco War] (Licenciatura thesis). La Paz, Bolivia: Universidad Mayor de San Andres Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educacion Carrera de Historia. pp. 121–128. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  35. ^ Mejillones-Quispe, Guillermo (March 2017). "La Exitosa Operación Sfeir en la Guerra del Chaco".
  36. ^ Mejillones-Quispe, Guillermo (March 2017). "La Exitosa Operacion Sfeir en la Guerra del Chaco" [The Successful Operation Sfeir during the Chaco War].
  37. ^ Mejillones-Quispe, Guillermo (March 2017). El Servicio de Inteligencia Entre 1927-1938: El Espionaje, Contraespionaje de Bolivia Durante la Guerra del Chaco [The Intelligence Service Between 1927-1938: Bolivian Espionage and Counterespionage during the Chaco War] (Licenciatura thesis). La Paz, Bolivia: Universidad Mayor de San Andres Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educacion Carrera de Historia. pp. 121–128. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  38. ^ Llajtamasi, Homero (November 21, 2024). "Las aventuras de película de Emilio Sfeir" [The larger-than-life adventures of Emilio Sfeir]. Opinion newspaper (in Spanish). Cochabamba, Bolivia. Retrieved November 28, 2024.
  39. ^ "BOLIVIA RETURNS TO GOLD STANDARD: Restoration Effected Through Laws Based on Advice Given by Kemmerer Commission. BUDGET SYSTEM PROVIDED Bank Regulations Changed--National at Head--United States Adviser to Be Named". New York Times newspaper. New York City. August 26, 1928.
  40. ^ "Policía Secuestro a Elementos Conspiradores Armas y Municiones Destinadas a una Revolución" [Police Seize from Conspiratorial Group Weapons and Ammuniton Intended for a Revolution]. La Razon newspaper (in Spanish). La Paz, Bolivia. August 10, 1949. p. 5. Luego fue presentado el [detenido] senor Manuel E[milio} Sfeir, quien reconoció igualmente que las armas y municiones exhibidas le fueron secuestradas [Next the police presented Mr. Manuel E[milio] Sfeir, who admitted similarly that the weapons and ammuniton shown were seized from him]
  41. ^ Zarate, Freddy (December 12, 2021). "Coati, la isla que fue utilizada como cárcel para presos políticos" [Coati [Isla de la Luna], the island that was used as a jail for political prisoners]. Opinión Bolivia (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  42. ^ Llajtamasi, Homero (November 21, 2024). "Las aventuras de película de Emilio Sfeir" [The larger-than-life adventures of Emilio Sfeir]. Opinion newspaper (in Spanish). Cochabamba, Bolivia. Retrieved November 28, 2024.
  43. ^ Llajtamasi, Homero (November 21, 2024). "Las aventuras de película de Emilio Sfeir" [The larger-than-life adventures of Emilio Sfeir]. Opinion newspaper (in Spanish). Cochabamba, Bolivia. Retrieved November 28, 2024.

Category:Chaco War Category:Bolivia Category:Bolivian National Revolution Category:Counterintelligence Category:Lebanese diaspora Category:Ottoman Empire Category:Maronites Category:Lake Titicaca Category:1898 births Category:1970 deaths Category:Gold standard Category:Lebanon Category:Immigration Category:People from Keserwan District Category:Lebanese families

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