Sponsors: Harvard Early Modern Workshop and Harvard Mahindra Humanities Seminar on the History of the Book
Speakers: Ida Beckett, Center for Middle Eastern Studies and Jin-Woo Choi, History Department, both Harvard University
This is a hybrid event. In person: Lunch will be served: Please RSVP for lunch by April 28, 2026. Online via Zoom: Registration .
Abstract: In 1665, Antonio Faustus Naironi, a Maronite Catholic from the Lebanese village of Ban, and Professor of Syriac at the Sapienza University of Rome, published a popular pamphlet on the “virtue of coffee.” Six years later appeared an expanded version of the same treatise in Latin, one which elaborated on the origins story of this ostensibly novel drink that was taking Europe by storm. Contrary to common belief at the time that it was a pernicious ‘Mahometan’ beverage, Naironi argued for the Christian provenance of coffee. In so doing, we show that he not only legitimized its contemporary consumption but also used its origin story to reconcile the history of the ‘Oriental Church’ with western Christendom. This article traces the invention of this Christian origin story of coffee, and subsequently its [mis]translations and eventual disappearance.
LOCATION:This is a hybrid event. In person: Barker Center, Room 133 (Plimpton Room), Harvard University (Please use the main entrance to enter Barker Center). On Zoom: Please register for the Zoom link. STATUS:CONFIRMED DTSTART:20260501T160000Z DTEND:20260501T174500Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR