Shimun XXI Benyamin

Mar Benyamin XXIII Shimun
His Holiness
Mar Shimun XXI Benyamin on or before 1913
Church	Assyrian Church of the East
Diocese	Patriarchal Diocese of Qodshanis
See	Apostolic See of Seleucia-Ctesiphon
Installed	30 March 1903
Term ended	3 March 1918
Predecessor	Mar Shimun XVIII Rouel (1860/1861-1903)
Successor	Mar Shimun XXII Paulos (1918–1920)
Orders
Rank	Catholicos-Patriarch
Personal details
Born	1887 Qodshanis, Hakkari, Ottoman Empire
Died	Salmas, Persia
Nationality	Assyrian (Ottoman)
Denomination	Christian, Assyrian Church of the East
Residence	Qodshanis, Hakkari, Turkey and later Urmia, Persia
Occupation	Cleric

Mar Shimun XXI Benyamin (1887– 3 March 1918) (Syriac: ܡܪܝ ܒܢܝܡܝܢ ܫܡܥܘܢ ܥܣܪܝܢ ܘܩܕܡܝܐ‎) was a Catholicos Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East.

Life

He was born in 1887 in the village of Qochanis in the Hakkari Province, Ottoman Empire (modern-day southeastern Turkey). His paternal uncle was Mar Shimun XVIII of Rubil patriarch from 1860 to 1903), and Asyat, daughter of Kambar from Iyl. He had six siblings: Isaiah, Zaya, Rolus (who succeeded him as Patriarch), David, Hormizd, Surma.

He was consecrated a Metropolitan on March 1, 1903 by his uncle, the Catholicos Patriarch who died on March 16, 1903. He succeeded his predecessor at the age of eighteen and occupied the patriarchal See of Seleucia-Ctesiphon at Qudchanis for 15 years. In March, 1918, Mar Benyamin along with 150 of his bodyguards were assassinated by Simko Shikak (Ismail Agha Shikak), a Kurdish agha, in the town of Salmas (Persia) under a truce flag (see Assyrian Genocide).

Quotes

• "It is impossible for me and my people to surrender after seeing the atrocities done to my Assyrian people by your government; therefore my brother is one, my people are many, I would rather lose my brother but not my nation."

See also

• List of Patriarchs of the Church of the East

External links

• http://www.marshimun.com
• "Patriarchs of the East" at friesian.com
• The Invitation of the Patriarch Mar Binyamin at www.aina.org (First-hand account by Malik Daniel Bar Malik Ismail of Mar Benyamin's assassination)

Preceded by Mar Shimun XVIII Rubil

Catholicos-Patriarch of the Church of the East 1903–1918

Succeeded by Mar Shimun XXII Paulos