Did you know that one of the Assyrian Cultural Foundation’s board members is the daughter of Malik Loco Shlimon Badawi, the last chief of the Assyrian tribe of Tkhuma? Malik Loco Badawi’s daughter, Helen Badawi, has been volunteering as a board member for ACF since 2015. One of Ms. Badawi’s major tasks at ACF is […]
Since April 2, 2012, the Assyrian Cultural Foundation is fortunate to have the talented Ninos Nirari Yousif on its staff. He was born in Mosul, Iraq in 1954, but moved around with his family to other surrounding areas as a boy. In 1965, Ninos Nirari moved to Kirkuk, Iraq, where he entered an Assyrian school […]
Did you know that one of the Assyrian Cultural Foundation’s Board Members, Edmond Ebrahimi, is also one of the Foundation’s music teachers? He became a Board Member in 2014, but in 2019, he also began teaching group guitar classes to kids on Wednesday nights. The classes proved to be popular and always had a large […]
In a cemetery about two-and-a-half hours away from Chicago, in Normal, Illinois, there is a headstone with Assyrian calligraphy on it. The grave belongs to Issa Benyamin and his wife, Clara Manasserians. Beneath Issa Benyamin’s name is the epitaph, “Father of Assyrian Calligraphy.” Although calligraphy has been a popular form of art among many groups […]
Elmer “Mousey” (sometimes spelled “Mousie”) Alexander was an American jazz drummer who performed with musicians such as the jazz clarinetist, Benny Goodman, and the jazz singer, Billie Holiday. He also happened to be Assyrian. Elmer Alexander was born in Gary, Indiana in 1922 to Assyrian parents from Urmia, Persia (Iran). Soon afterwards, the family […]
