Assyrian Information Medium Exchange
Authors Page

Naoum Elias Yakob Balakh was born in February 1868 in the Assyrian town of Omid (Diyarbekir) in northern Bethnahrin, parts of it presently in Turkey. He added the title Faik to his name as this was a tradition in the Ottoman Empire to add titles because there were always many people carrying the same name.

He attended the parish primary school. Then the secondary school of The Brotherhood Association of Ancient Syrians, he spent eight years there where he learned Syriac, Arabic, Turkish, and Persian in addition to the church liturgy and hymns. He planned to continue his studies in the Syrian University but his father passed away and was forced to seek employment to support himself. Soon after that his mother passed away too, he was left young and broken hearted.

He started teaching in Omid (Diarbekir) in the year 1888. Later, was asked to move to the town of Hashas in Al-Bashiriya where he faced tremendous difficulties because everybody there spoke Kurdish. He was ordained Shamasha on October 16th., 1889 at the age of 21 and was an active member in his church. Naoum Faik travelled to Al-Raha (Urhai / Edessa), to teach there and while living in Urhai he studied the Assyrian treasures kept in our old churches there. He later moved to Hsanmansour (Adiyaman) to teach in the new school built for the 50 Assyrian families living in that region.

Naoum Faik returned to Omid and taught again in its schools for another 4 years when he was asked by the Patriarch Moran Mar Ignatius Abdulmasih II, in 1896, to travel to Homs, Syria, to teach in its school. He stayed in Homs for a short time and moved to Beirut, Lebanon then to Yafa and Jerusalem where he spent six months in Mar Markus monastery studying its Syriac written treasures. Naoum Faik returned to Omid for the third time and got back to teaching. Then in 1904, he moved to Mardin, to Deyrul Zafaran monastery where he began studying all those Syriac texts, which were saved in the moastery’s depository.

In 1908 he started "AL-Entibah " a religious association and in 1909 brought to life the well known magazine "Kukhwa d' Madinkha " (Star of the East), both very well known establishments to our people.

One of the things Naoum Faik always preached of was the necessity of schools, printing presses, magazines as he describe them being the tools for survival and building nationalistic he youth. With the increasing of oppression against his people in our homeland, he decided to immigrate to the USA, and so he did in 1912, with the help of his loyal friend Sanharib Bali, who wrote about him saying’ Before Naoum Faik many people came, but they all took from the Assyrian culture and translated it to other langauges but he distinguished himself by translating from other languages to Assyrian, thus while others were exchanging our heritage he was adding to it.

In the United States he started the journal of "Bethnahrin" in 1916, published in Syriac, Arabic and Turkish, which he dedicated to the Assyrian people. In 1921 he was asked to be the chief editor of the magazine "Huyada" published by the ChaldoAssyrian National Association, which he did until it stopped, then he returned to issue 'Bethnahrin' again until his last days. Nauom Faik died 5th. of February in 1930.

Naoum Faik believed that the interest of the Assyrian nation should always be put ahead of personal interest. Yes, he was born poor, but because of his beliefs he lived poor and died poor, but what he left is a wealth that money can not buy. He left an awakening in the Assyrian nation, an awakening which is taking roots in us as people of one origin with distinct heritage and culture and the right to shape our own destiny.

Malfono Naoum Faik, as we call him today, deserved that title, he is our beloved poet, founder of Assyrian renaissance. He passed away on February 5th., 1930, but forever he will be in our hearts, an Assyrian legend.