María Najle and Juan Gait Family Papers

Emigration and immigration

Immigrants' writings, Arabic

Diaries

Oral Histories

Biographical/Historical note

Juan Gait [Hanna Ghayth, Juan Gaith, حنا غيث](1905-1893?) immigrated to Argentina with his parents at the age of 16, in 1921 from Yabroud, Syria. The family, already poor before World War I, presumably left due to post-war hardships and because they had family already in Argentina. In Syria before he immigrated Juan went to Seminary to become a Melkite priest, but he never completed it. While in La Cumbre, Argentina, he was known to attend both of the churches located in town on Sundays. Upon arriving, Gait worked odd jobs until eventually buying property and doing business in real estate. At one time he operated a hotel, and then went to live in Capilla del Monte where he remained for the rest of his life. He never married and had no children, but was close with his nieces and nephews.

María Najle's father, Elias Najle, emigrated from Yabroud, Syria to La Cumbre, Argentina in December 1923. Juan Gait was María's great uncle. María's parents, Elias and Nadime, were close to their uncle, so she saw him often. Gait was an avid reader and writer, and he and María bonded over their love of reading when she was young. After he died his papers and his books were mostly lost, but María was able to retain his immigration diary.

Scope/Contents note

The María Najle and Juan Gait Family Papers include diaries written by María Najle's great uncle, Juan Gait, and by her father, Elias Najle. The diaries date from 1872 to the 1950s. The collection also includes oral histories from María Najle and her niece, Indira Montoya, that include discussions of the family and their emigration. The oral histories are not available online, but are available to researchers upon request.

The first diary covers Gait's emigration from Lebanon to South America and other travel events. Elias Najle's notebooks include records of marriages, births, and baptisms, a list of correspondences, addresses, some accounting information, and a list of monetary transactions with his family.

María Najle

Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies

1886-1950s and 2023-2024

Processed by Anna Maria Hester, 2023 March-April. Addition processed by Rachel Beth Acker, 2023 June-July. Metadata contributed by Dr. Akram Khater 2024 March-April. Collection Guide created by Laura Lethers with content contributed by Sarah Bernstein, 2024 January and April.

The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.

Arabic

Spanish

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