Father Yousab El-Souriany: Monk, Priest, Author, and Coptic Iconographer

المتنيح الراهب القمص يوساب السرياني (١٩٤٥–٢٠٠٣م)

A monk and priest of the Monastery of the Holy Virgin Mary, El-Sourian, in Wadi El-Natrun, Egypt. He painted and studied Coptic icons, and wrote the book Coptic Art and Its Leading Role Among the Arts of the Christian World. He departed in peace on 12 October 2003.

Hegumen Yousab El-Souriany smiling, in the monastic hood — The late monk Hegumen Yousab El-Souriany.

Key facts
Name before monasticism	Nagy Helmy Fawzy Rofail (ناجي حلمي فوزي روفائيل)
Born	13 May 1945
Education	BA, Faculty of Arts, Department of Geography
Work before monasticism	Administrative employee at the Egyptian Ministry of Supply
Spiritual father before monasticism	The late Hegumen Bishoy Kamel
Came to the monastery	July 1968, as a candidate for monasticism
Monastic tonsure	2 March 1969
Ordained priest	December 1971
Elevated to hegumen	1976
Spiritual father at the monastery	The late Hegumen Angelos El-Souriany
Departed	12 October 2003

Early life

Nagy Helmy Fawzy Rofail was born on 13 May 1945. He earned a BA from the Department of Geography of the Faculty of Arts and worked as an administrative employee at the Egyptian Ministry of Supply. His spiritual father in those years was the late Hegumen Bishoy Kamel.

Monastic life at El-Sourian

He came to the Monastery of the Holy Virgin Mary, El-Sourian, in July 1968, and began there as a candidate for monasticism the same month. He was tonsured a monk on 2 March 1969. His spiritual father at the monastery was the late Hegumen Angelos El-Souriany.

He was ordained a priest in December 1971 and elevated to hegumen in 1976.

Service in the monastery

He was entrusted with several responsibilities in the monastery, given here by their Arabic names as supplied to the site, since their exact scope is not recorded:

المجمع (al-Magma‘).
مخزن الدير, the monastery storehouse.
القربان, the Holy Offering (Qurban) bread.

Studies and service outside the monastery

Father Yousab studied and served in the Netherlands. The title page of his book describes him as holding a “Diploma of the Institute of Coptic Studies, Cairo”, with “studies at Leiden University, the Netherlands”, and as a “member of the Society of Coptic Archaeology”.

He also served at the monastery’s house in Germany, where he painted icons.

His work in Coptic iconography

Hegumen Yousab El-Souriany painting an icon.

Direct testimony According to the testimony of Samy Sorial, founder of Okeen.net, the monk Hegumen Yousab El-Souriany painted the icon of Saint Mar Okeen the Copt at the Monastery of the Holy Virgin Mary, El-Sourian, in 1987. This attribution rests on personal testimony; it is documented, with photographs of the icon, on the page The 1987 Icon of Saint Mar Okeen.

Inscription on the icon The icon itself carries the artist’s handwritten signature:

القمص / يوساب السرياني / ١٩٨٧, "Hegumen Yousab El-Souriany, 1987", on the icon of Saint Mar Okeen the Copt. Samy Sorial collection.

From his book The back cover of his book Coptic Art shows an icon of the Flight into Egypt with the German inscription “Aus Ägypten habe ich meinen Sohn gerufen” (“Out of Egypt I called my son”, Matthew 2:15), captioned أيقونة حديثة من تصميم المؤلف, “a modern icon designed by the author”.

Only works we have documented are listed here; photographs or information about other icons by his hand are welcome.

Writings of Hegumen Yousab El-Souriany

Cover of the book Coptic Art and Its Leading Role Among the Arts of the Christian World

الفن القبطي ودوره الرائد بين فنون العالم المسيحي
Coptic Art and Its Leading Role Among the Arts of the Christian World Volume One · 146 pages · in Arabic · reviewed, with a foreword, by H.G. Anba Samuel, Bishop of Shebin El-Qanater About the book

The book’s back cover says the author meant to continue his subject “in the second volume of the book”; we have not yet found a published second volume.

His departure

Hegumen Yousab El-Souriany departed in peace on 12 October 2003.

Commemorative image of Hegumen Yousab El-Souriany smiling, titled in Arabic: the twenty-third annual commemoration of the late monk Hegumen Yousab El-Souriany — Commemorative image issued in the name of the Monastery of the Holy Virgin Mary – El-Sourian, dated 13 October 2026 (3 Paopi 1743 AM), marking the twenty-third anniversary of his departure. The date on the image is its date of issue, not the date of his departure. Monastery of the Holy Virgin Mary – El-Sourian, as published with its marks.

Sources

Information supplied to the Okeen.net archive on the life of Hegumen Yousab El-Souriany
Hegumen Yousab El-Souriany, Coptic Art and Its Leading Role Among the Arts of the Christian World, Volume One (title page and back cover)
Testimony of Samy Sorial, founder of Okeen.net, on the icon of Saint Mar Okeen the Copt (1987)
Commemorative image issued in the name of the Monastery of the Holy Virgin Mary – El-Sourian, dated 13 October 2026