Submitted by David Raphael

Tell us about the village your family comes from:

Aintourine is in the Mountains of North Lebanon, a small village from which some of the earliest immigrants from Lebanon came to Australia. My research so far has found one Aintourine member by the name of Malachi (Michael) Rouhana who apparently arrived in the 1880s. He is buried at the West Terrace cemetery in Adelaide. Date of death is 1890.
Some other families that immigrated to Australia from Aintourine in that period include Gabriel, Saleeba and Stevens.

Why did your family come to Australia?

My great, great grandparents, Joseph and Mary Raphael and their daughter Saide arrived in Australia in approximately 1896. I believe due to other Aintourine people already in Australia.

What was your family’s first Australian encounter like?

Unfortunately, I can’t describe their first encounter.

What did your family do for work?

Hawking and farming.

Who are some of the members of your family?

My great grandmother, Zita Raphael and my grandfather, Joseph Salium Raphael arrived in Australia in 1924. My Grandfather’s Aunty, Saide Maree (nee Raphael), who came with her parents in 1896, was already in Australia. Saide’s parents returned to Lebanon in the early 1900s.
Joseph Salium Raphael returned to Lebanon in 1926 (leaving his mother in Australia). Joseph Salium Raphael married Mary Reaiche and returned to Australia in 1929 with a daughter, Julia, who was born in 1928. They then had Rose, born in 1930, Zita born in 1931, my father, Buddy Raphael born in 1932, Sam born in 1936, Norma in 1944 and Yvonne in 1950. Julia, Rose, Zita and Yvonne are still alive.