Philoxenos Yuhanon Dolabani

Mor Philoxenos Yuhanon Dolabani (; 1885–1969), also known simply as Philoxenos Yuhanon Dolabani or simply Yuhanon Dolabani, was the Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan of Mardin, Turkey and its Environs. Born in 1885 in Mardin, he became interested in becoming a monk in the early 20th century, to which his parents objected at first. He was ordained in the Mor Hananyo Monastery in 1908, and later as a bishop in 1933. In 1947, he was ordained Metropolitan of Mardin.

Dolabani authored many works throughout his life, and is acclaimed as a prominent Syriac writer to this day. Over the course of his life, he published as many as 69 books, including 10 translations, and had overseen control of publishing materials from his residence in Mardin. He is known to have also composed many poems, including Assyrian nationalist ones, which he was later forbidden from writing/expressing due to conflict with Syriac Orthodox clergymen. Despite these issues, Dolabani stuck to his ideals and continued to express Assyrian identity.

Today, many Assyrians cite Dolabani as an influential figure of the 20th century, and praise him for his works as well as his nationalism. As a teacher of Syriac in the Taw Mim Semkath orphanage, he taught many figures who would later become prominent in the Assyrian community. In 2007, a biography about Dolabani was published that included his writing and poetry.

Early life Dolabani was born in Mardin on 27 September 1885 to a religious family that came to the city from Savur in the 18th century. He was born near the village of Qeleth. At the age of six, he attended school at the Forty Martyrs Church, learning a variety of different subjects. He attended the local Turkish school, and after he finished his education, he resided across different monasteries in Mardin and Tur Abdin. Originally, Dolabani embarked on a shoe-making career, and his parents objected to the idea of him becoming a monk. Although Ignatius Abded Aloho II had tried to convince Dolabani to forget about monastic life at the request of his parents, it was to no avail.

In 1908, Dolabani became a monk in the Mor Hananyo Monastery, where he resided for the majority of his life. He became a teacher in the monastery's Patriarchal School in 1910, and was ordained a priest in 1918.

Religious work At the Taw Mim Semkath orphanage school, Dolabani taught Syriac and Arabic to students until its closure in 1921. Among the students he taught at the orphanage include Gabriel Asaad, Abrohom Sawme, Athanasius Yeshue Samuel, and Danho Maqdasi Elias. Dolabani also taught those who would later become clergymen such as Abed Mshiho Neman Qarabashi, Murad Saliba Barsoum, and Nu'man Aydin, and frequented education at various monasteries. Dolabani frequently wrote to different places in order to request financial aid for Taw Mim Semkath, and according to Nicholas Al-Jeloo, his instruction in Syriac fueled many prominent writers and luminaries.

Dolabani accompanied Ignatius Elias III on a pastoral tour across the Middle East in 1919 after Sayfo, and later attended another visit in 1925 to Aleppo and Jerusalem. He also oversaw the publishing of the Hikmet journal while he was a monk at the Mor Hananyo Monastery.

In 1929, Dolabani published a book of compiled poems which included literary works by Barhebraeus. He additionally compiled a series of catalogues of manuscripts from different locations which remained unpublished until 1994, and translated Ignatius Aphrem I's book, The Scattered Pearls: A History of Syriac Science and Literature, into Syriac. Throughout most of his life, Dolabani kept a diary where he detailed daily occurrences and events in his life. In the magazine Leshono d'Umtho, Dolabani published nationalistic poems anonymously.

Dolabani was one of only two clergymen, alongside Ignatius Ya'qub III, to oppose the excommunication of Farid Nuzha by Aphrem Barsoum. His magazine continued to be sent to Dolabani even while he was excommunicated. He also criticized a tribute to Naum Faiq by bishop Murad Cheqqe, which expressed distaste towards Faiq's Assyrian activism. According to historian Michael Abdalla, Dolabani is considered one of the great Assyrians of the twentieth century. Khalid Dinno considered Dolabani a role model for younger generations of Syriac Orthodox Christians, especially for those from southeastern Turkey, helping to strengthen the revival of the church. In 2007, the Assyrian Federation in Sweden published a biography about Dolabani, which included his writings and poetry.

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