(1906 – 1997)

Sophie Halaby (b. June 26, 1906, in Jerusalem or Kiev) was a professional Palestinian watercolor artist whose life spanned most of the 20th century. Her primary subject matter was the landscape of Jerusalem, unscarred by foreign occupation and urban development. As the first Arab woman to travel to Paris in the 1920s to study art, Halaby inspired generations of younger Palestinian women to pursue their passion. In addition to being a role model, Halaby was a professional artist whose pieces were consistently of high quality, earning her an enduring reputation as one of Palestine’s most talented and accomplished artists.

Family Background:

Three sources provide details about the life of Sophie Halaby; unfortunately, they differ on key details about her early years. She was the daughter of Jiryes Nicola Halaby and Olga Akimovna Khudobasheva. Her father had gone to Russia for higher education; he either met and married Olga in Russia and took her to Palestine or, upon his return, he met Olga, who was teaching in a Russian school in Palestine, and they married. Sophie Halaby was born in Jerusalem (or possibly Kiev) on June 26, 1905, or 1906; she had a brother, Nicola, three years her senior, and a sister, Anastasia (Asia), three years younger.1

The Halaby family lived in the upscale Palestinian neighborhood of Musrara, in Jerusalem’s New City, and remained there until 1948. The family was well-off and owned considerable property. Halaby spoke four languages and grew up in Jerusalem with 14 paternal cousins nearby. The icon painter and muralist Khalil Halaby (teacher of Palestinian artist Kamal Boullata) was a distant relative.

The family left Jerusalem when World War I broke out, as they were closely connected with the Russian Orthodox Church—Olga was a Russian national—at a time when the Russian and Ottoman empires were at war. They lived in Kiev for a while. When the Bolshevik Revolution swept the country in 1917, they returned to Jerusalem later that year.

Halaby identified with her mother’s culture and often spoke Russian to her sister for private communication. She maintained a connection with the Orthodox Church throughout her life.

Between 1929/30 and 1933, Halaby lived in an international student hostel in Paris, studied in a few private studios, and visited art galleries and museums. She also submitted works to exhibitions and won at least one prize. Some of her paintings suggest that she might have made a side trip to Italy before leaving Europe.

She returned to Jerusalem in 1933 and identified herself thereafter as a professional artist; she painted postcards and ordered painting supplies from Paris. She began teaching art at the Schmidt Girls’ School in Jerusalem, where she remained until 1955, after which she retired from teaching and devoted herself full-time to her art.

Halaby avoided exhibiting her work alongside political and nationalist artists. But in 1936, during the tense early days of the Great Palestinian Revolt, she contributed eight political cartoons to the new weekly English-language publication Palestine and Transjordan. The cartoons were critical of British Mandate policies, which permitted massive Jewish immigration to Palestine, and reflected her opposition to Zionism.

Source: Jerusalem Story