Michael Malarkey
Malarkey in 2015, photo by Prphotos
Place of Birth: Beirut, Lebanon
Date of Birth: 21 June, 1983
Ethnicity:
*father – Irish, German
*mother – Palestinian Arab, Italian-Maltese
Michael Malarkey is a British-American actor and musician. He is known for starring on the series The Vampire Diaries.
His father, James Michael Malarkey, is an American, of Irish and German descent. His mother, Nadia, is British, of Palestinian Arab and Italian-Maltese origin. The family settled in Yellow Springs, Ohio, U.S. Michael is married to English actress Nadine Lewington, with whom he has two children.
Michael’s paternal grandfather was Robert Murray Malarkey (the son of Timothy Bertram Malarkey and Martha Angela Savage).
Michael’s paternal grandmother was Rosemary Cornelia Widmeyer (the daughter of George Francis or Robert Widmeyer and Cornelia Anna Riehle).
Michael’s maternal grandfather was named Suheil Badi’ Bushrui. Suheil was born in Nazareth, Palestine, now Nazareth, Israel, and was of the Bahá’í religion.
Michael’s maternal grandmother was named Mary Ellul. Mary is from Brindisi, Apulia, Italy, and is of Italian-Maltese descent.
Sources: http://www.antioch.edu
https://twitter.com
Obituary of Michael’s paternal grandfather, Robert Murray Malarkey – http://www.legacy.com
Obituary of Michael’s maternal grandfather, Suheil Bushrui – http://www.baltimoresun.com
He is Palestinian
https://www.masala.com/public/images/2021/05/15/E1U4QklWEAEVdPL.jpeg
*Palestinian Arab
I don’t know. Do you think that Suheil Bushrui, a Bahá’í, identified himself as a Palestinian?
He was born in an area that is inhabited by Palestinians, thus he was likely one himself. Arab says very little about a person. There are christian Palestinians as well as muslims, what religion he belonged to is irrelevant.
I don’t think Bahá’í tend to identify themselves as Palestinian. Suheil Bushrui isn’t called a Palestinian on his Wikipedia page. He was born in 1929 in what is now Israel. I don’t think he ever lived on the Palestinian territories.
The Palestinian identity emerged from the modern day descendants of the inhabitants of the historical region of Palestine (Israel, the West Bank, Gaza). I’d say if he has roots in this region, he should be considered Palestinian. And he actually attended St. George’s School in Jerusalem, located within the Palestinian territories.
I know, but there are many Arabs living in Israel and they would be referred to as Israeli Arabs, not Palestinian Arabs.
In this case in particular, though, and this is the main point, since Bushrui was a Bahá’í, I seriously doubt that he would have called himself Palestinian. While there are both Palestinian Muslims and Christians, Bahá’í are in a different category.
Fair point. But how do you think he identified himself? If not with the Palestinians, then with whom? With other Bahá’í Arabs? Since there is no prominent Bahá’í community in Israel, I doubt that. I also don’t see why Bahá’í’s would be in a different category than the Christians and the Muslims. Palestinian has no religious affiliation to it. We don’t know if he was born into the faith or converted either.
No prominent Bahá’í community in Israel?!? The Universal House of Justice, the governing body of the Bahá’í, is in Israel, as are the Bahá’í gardens, and a few other Bahá’í sites.
There are 14,000 Bahá’í in Israel. That might not seem like much, but there are 140,000 Bahá’í in the U.S., and per capita that’s more in Israel.
Are there even Bahá’í now living in the Palestinian Territories? I’m not sure.
Perhaps Suheil Bushrui was of Lebanese descent. He was a scholar on Kahlil Gibran, and there is a Bahá’í community in Lebanon.
BTW, I presume he attended the St. George’s School before 1948, so East/West divisions may not really apply.
http://www.myreviews.it/98094_intervista-michael-malarkey-da-gatsby-vampire-diaries-passando-per-la-musica/
“Mia nonna era italo-maltese [..] la sua famiglia proveniva dalla città di Brindisi” (My grandmother was Italian-Maltese, her family came from Brindisi)
It makes sense because “Ellul” is a Maltese surname (example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massimo_Ellul). Maybe her grandmother was half Maltese/half Italian (from Brindisi).
Michael’s father:
http://www.antioch.edu/featured-faculty/aum-faculty-profile-jim-malarkey/
Michael’s maternal grandmother is from Brindisi, Apulia, Italy.
https://twitter.com/mkmalarkey/status/431426593433481216