Lebanon has attracted wanderers from across the Vistula for centuries. Some studies speculate that Poles appeared in the area of present-day Lebanon as early as during the Crusades (1098-1291), but there is no direct evidence of this - although some historians attribute the participation in the second expedition to Władysław the Exile (others point to Henryk Sandomierski), they all travelled only along the route to Jerusalem, possibly using Lebanese ports and roads along the coast.

The first sure sign of a Polish presence remains the visit of the Lithuanian magnate Mikolaj Krzysztof Radziwill 'the Orphan' (1549-1616), who stopped in Tripoli and Baalbek during his journey to the Holy Land, but does not devote much attention to these places in his memoirs. Certainly, in the following centuries there were individual arrivals from Poland in Lebanon, but there is no further information on this.

It was not until the partitions of the Republic of Poland, which triggered waves of emigration, that individual newcomers from Poland arrived in Lebanon. In the mid-19th century, Lebanon was visited by Henryk Rzewuski and Juliusz Słowacki. The latter, on his return journey from Jerusalem, stayed from February to April 1837 at the Armenian monastery of St Anthony in Ghazir, where he wrote the first version of the poem 'Anhelli' and also began 'The Father of the Inflicted'; he also did sketches and watercolours, from where he went to Beirut and then to Tripoli, from where he sailed to Livorno.

Another important figure is Maximilian Rylo, a charismatic Jesuit who appeared in Lebanon in September 1836 with the task of improving relations between Rome and the local church. Interestingly, the following year he also wrote about the presence of another Polish monk. In 1837, Rylo returned to Rome and, later that year, began seeking permission to establish a college in Beirut (he also considered Aleppo). Despite initial scepticism on the part of the Bishop of Rome, Gregory XVI, he obtained papal approval in 1839, and the school was opened in 1841. The Jesuit himself stayed in Beirut from 1839 to 1841 or 1842, and the institution was moved to Ghazir, where it functioned until 1875, in turn becoming the nucleus for the University of Saint Joseph.

Between 1860 and 1865, after the Druze massacres of the Maronites, the Ottoman Sultan entrusted the protection of the local population to two regiments of dragoons stationed in the Shouf mountains. They were commanded by General Michał Czajkowski (Sadyk Pasha) and other officers of Polish origin. General Mouazaffer Pasha (Władysław Czajkowski 1843-1907), who was governor of Lebanon from 1902 to 1907, also arrived in Lebanon years later.

Already in the 1930s, trade and migration contacts between Poland and the Levant countries increased, and an increasing number of Polish merchants, sailors and students settled in Beirut. In order to provide them with legal and consular support and to develop economic and cultural cooperation, Polish consular agents began working in Beirut at the consulate in Marseille in 1933. When, towards the end of the decade, in the face of growing international tensions and the needs of an increasingly extensive service to the Polish community and the interests of the Republic - both in terms of the care of citizens and the coordination of humanitarian aid - this proved insufficient, an independent Polish Vice Consulate was established in Beirut in 1939, which was soon elevated to the rank of Consulate General. This gave Poland a permanent diplomatic post in the Levant capital, capable of responding quickly to the needs of its citizens and the interests of the state.

After the Second World War, Lebanon received nearly 6,000 Polish refugees of the Anders Army. Although most had left the country by 1951, several hundred remained, establishing active communities and institutions. Between 1942 and 1950, nearly 6 000 Polish refugees arrived in Lebanon - mostly soldiers and their families evacuated from the USSR with the Anders Army. They were initially quartered in the Beirut transit camp, from where they gradually dispersed to centres such as Ghazir, Baladoun, Ajaltoun, Roum, Beit-Chabab, Zouk-Mikael and Babdat.

To meet the educational needs, the Polish Red Cross began operating as early as 1942, and the Polish community formed committees: Aid to Polish Children (Anna Miklasiewiczowa) and Aid to Poles (Monasterski and Kotużyński). Fifteen educational establishments were in operation, ranging from comprehensive schools, gymnasiums and high schools to Professor Baake's Polish School of Painting and Drawing. The refugees also set up a library, and a Polish church was established at Ghazir.

In Beirut, some 400 students continued their studies at Saint Joseph's University, the American University of Beirut (which organised English courses) and at ALBA, the academy of fine arts. Sanatoriums in Bhammes and Bhamdoun were active, and Levant radio in Lebanon had been broadcasting to the Polish Army since 1941.

On 24 June 1947, the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs handed over part of the Barbir cemetery to the Poles, where 125 people were laid to rest - including Prof. Baake and Arch. Karol Schayer. After waves of repatriation, just over 600 people returned to Poland, but around 200 Poles settled here permanently. Thanks to their own initiative and the support of the local community, the "Przelotem" and the "Reduta" publishing house were thriving.

Between 1942 and 1952, an impressive activity of Polish visual artists associated with both the Anders Army and civilian refugees developed in Beirut. The first Polish civilian refugees arrived in Lebanon as early as December 1939, and the mass evacuation - following the departure of the Polish Army from the USSR - began in 1942. In the summer of 1943, there were more than a hundred people in Beirut's academic community, and in the academic year 1945/46, a total of 264 Poles studied at the capital's three main universities - Saint Joseph's University, the American University of Beirut and ALBA - of whom about twenty-one were visual arts students. In total, more than four hundred of our students have passed through Beirut's universities, almost half of whom have obtained degrees in various fields.

The first, and largest, exhibition of the artistic work of Polish artists took place in January 1944 at the St. Georges Hotel - more than one hundred works (oil paintings, gouaches, drawings) were presented then, all of which were created in the post-impressionist spirit. Among the participants were both painters-soldiers and artists unconnected with the 2nd Corps, such as Józef Czapski and Zygmunt Siedlanowski. Thanks to the excellent level of workmanship and the understanding of French designs, the works received an enthusiastic reception in the French, English and Arabic press alike.

From 1943, the ALBA Academy of Fine Arts operated in Beirut, offering three faculties: architecture, music and art. Lecturers included the Lebanese portraitist César Gemayel, the German artist Grün and Professor Antoni Markowski from Lviv. The university's programme was based on European trends: Fauvism, Expressionism, Cubism and Surrealism; the study of the nude was also introduced and the graphic design studios were developed. It was at ALBA that the most talented Polish students developed, such as Stanisław Frenkiel, who later became famous as a representative of New Expressionism in Great Britain, or Zygmunt "Sygililla" Mazur, who settled in Canada after his studies.

In parallel, from 1947, Bolesław Baake ran the Polish School of Painting and Drawing at the American University of Beirut, where, together with Mary Schneider, Jerzy Brodnicki and Feliks Topolski, he introduced, among other things, classes in the study of the nude. Baake remained in Lebanon until his death in 1963, and his students included figures such as Maria Stravinska and Zygmunt Mazur.

Through numerous exhibitions, reviews and the purchase of works for Lebanese museums and private collections, Polish art gained lasting recognition in Lebanon. The encounter with Arab culture and Middle Eastern light opened up new creative perspectives for Polish artists, which many of them later developed in exile - not only in Western Europe, but also in Canada and North America. Although most returned to Poland after the war or emigrated further afield, the years spent in Beirut will always remain an important chapter in their artistic biographies.

Together with Mary Schneider, Jerzy Brodnicki and Feliks Topolski, he introduced the study of the nude into the programme and organised an exhibition in 1951. Sam Baake, author of 'The Rose of Lebanon' - a symbolic allegorical painting - died in 1963 and was laid to rest in the Polish War Cemetery in Beirut. Among the school's graduates were the painter Maria Stravinska, who had begun her studies while still in Poland in Krakow, and the painter and draughtsman Zygmunt Sygilla Mazur - both of whom had already emigrated to Canada in 1949 as a married couple. The school organised at least two exhibitions in 1947 "L'Exposition des Jeunes Peintres Polonais Au Liban" and in 1948 "Exposition des Peintres Polonais de Beyrouth".

Since the 1960s, Lebanon has become a destination for the economic emigration of highly qualified Poles - engineers, architects, doctors, nurses and scientists. The dynamic development of infrastructure and tourism in Beirut and the coastal resorts attracted Polish design offices, construction companies and hospitals, which enlisted professionals from Poland under state and private contracts. At the same time, the growing demand for educational and medical staff meant that many teachers and medical personnel chose to work in Lebanese schools and clinics for several years, taking advantage of better salaries and employment conditions.

Polish traces

Słowacki's wanderings and the Ghazir monastery

February-April 1837 was the time of Juliusz Słowacki's stay at St Anthony's Monastery in Ghazir, where Anhelli was written, as well as drawings of the monastery ('Betcheshban'), the mountains and the sky with Orion. Polish refugees erected a marble plaque in three languages there in 1946, and in 2002 the Museum of Literature opened the first permanent exhibition of the memorabilia. November 2022 saw the appearance of the multimedia exhibition Słowacki in Lebanon, showing the poet's letters and excerpts from Anhelli, and at the opening Beirut university students presented the spiritual message of the work.

The architecture of Karol Schayer

Between 1952 and 1959, Karol Schayer (1900-1971) designed modernist icons of the urban landscape in Beirut: the AUB Alumni Club, the Horseshoe Building, the Carlton Hotel, Dar Al Sayad and the Shell Building. His designs combined functionalism with the aesthetics of the Polish avant-garde, fitting in with the resurgent post-war city.

For more information, see separate article

Polish War Cemetery in Beirut (1946) - the cemetery was on the front line during the 1975-1990 civil war and was almost completely devastated. Reactivated in 1991, about 140 people are buried here, among them Polish refugees but also Henka Ordonna, who died in Beirut in 1950. It is currently being restored after being destroyed in 1975 and 2006.

We write about the cemeteries in a separate article and in the war cemeteries catalogue .

Polish graves in British cemeteries (Commonwealth War Graves Commission) in Beirut ( more information on CCWGC website ), Sidon ( more information on CCWGC website ) and Tripoli (Tripoli Victoria Naval Cemetery - 9 Polish gravestones from 1943 more information on CCWGC website )

Plaque commemorating Juliusz Słowacki at St Anthony's Monastery (Ghazir, 1946; Arabic, Polish, French)

Plaque of Polish refugees in the vestibule of St Joseph's Church

Plaques commemorating the work of Rylić at St Joseph's University , Beirut