Aiming to recover Syrian-Lebanese culture in Minas Gerais, the book brings a series of stories and anecdotes about immigrants by the end of the 19th<\/sup> and the beginning of 20th<\/sup> century. According to Ab\u00edlio, the book talks about these people\u2019s families, trade, religion, and daily life.<\/p>\n \u201cMy father family came from Tell Aabbas, or Mount Aabbas, in Lebanon, in 1924, and my mother\u2019s from Baino Akkar, in 1900. There are more then 400 Syrian-Lebanese families in [Guaxup\u00e9], the majority being Orthodox Christian, coming from North Lebanon. Almost no Muslims came during World War I,\u201d he told, explaining the region also received many Italian immigrants during that time. Guaxup\u00e9 houses a church considered by some historians as the first Orthodox church in Brazil and according to him, this faith, is present in his book.<\/p>\n The book starts with a passage by the time-traveler character Ibrahim Hanna in 1500, during the discover of Brazil, when references to the Phoenicia and Arab navigators from the 9th<\/sup> century, and then he arrives at Guaxup\u00e9 at the end of the 19th<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n Between the stories, Ab\u00edlio highlighted the anecdote \u201cTr\u00eas Dedos\u201d [Three Digits], referring to the three digits (thumb, index and middle finger) the Orthodox Christian use with their right hand to make the sign of the cross. The story talks about a Syrian who loses his right thumb and creates an entirely new religion because of the accident.<\/p>\n Another story by Ab\u00edlio is \u201cVixe Maria!\u201d [Holy Mary], about a Syrian old lady who confesses to a priest. When he listens to her \u201ccaptious sins\u201d, he says the title words loud and clear, stirring curiosity among the people in the church.<\/p>\n Ab\u00edlio also tells a little about the history of the Chancliche<\/a>, a cheese typical from North Lebanon that started being produced by hand in the region in the beginning of the 20th<\/sup> century and now is industrially produced and sold all over Brazil. \u201cMy grandmother made the chancliche balls and walked 7 miles to a nearby city to sell them; when she arrived home, she handed the money to my father, who usually spent all of it gambling,\u201d revealed the author. According to him, many Lebanese men from those times were addicted to card games. \u201cI\u2019ve heard stories from many men who made fortunes and lost everything gambling,\u201d he told.<\/p>\n The book also tells about the involvement of Syrian-Lebanese in the Regional Cooperative of Coffee Growers in Guaxup\u00e9. Cooxup\u00e9<\/a> has 14,000 cooperates and is considered the largest coffee cooperative in the whole world, besides being one of the largest coffee producers in Brazil, being responsible for approximately 10% of Brazilian total production last year.<\/p>\n Romeu Ab\u00edlio is graduated in history and law by University of S\u00e3o Paulo (USP), was baptized as an Orthodox Christian and lived in a Catholic seminary for seven years. \u201cI have been privileged, things were a little easier for me because of my seminary, then I came to S\u00e3o Paulo to study, and then became a judge,\u201d said Ab\u00edlio.<\/p>\n \u201cTruth is most Arabs who came to Brazil were illiterate and came from a poor background after World War I, and couldn\u2019t make their dreams of becoming rich come true, they just survived, with rare exceptions,\u201d he declared, busting the myth that every Syrian-Lebanese is rich.<\/p>\n Abilio\u2019s first book, \u201cLembran\u00e7as Minurcas\u201d, were published in 2015.<\/p>\n His new book, published by Instituto Paulista de Magistrados (IPAM), will be launched at Centro Universit\u00e1rio da Funda\u00e7\u00e3o Educacional Guaxup\u00e9 (UNIFEG) in Minas Gerais in 29 March, and then in S\u00e3o Paulo at Esporte Clube S\u00edrio in April 13.<\/p>\n Fact Sheet<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIbrahim Hanna e Exc\u00eantricos S\u00edrio-Libaneses no Sul de Minas\u201d![\"\"](\"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/romeu-abilio-livros-300x225.jpg\")
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\nRomeu Ab\u00edlio, 2018
\n334 pages
\nInstituto Paulista de Magistrados (IPAM<\/a>)
\nISBN 978-85-69031-16-1<\/p>\n