Ūwjīnīyā Al-Ba'qlīnī was a child passenger on Titanic.
Background[]
Ūwjīnīyā Al-Ba'qlīnī was born as the second child of Sulayman al-Ba’qlina and Laţīfah Al-Haj Qurbān. Ūwjīnīyā was a native of Al Shwayr, Syria which is not Lebanon. At first, she had two sisters, one elder and one younger. They were Mārīyā, born in 1906 and Hilānah, who came in July 1911. This child didn’t meet her father at birth, as he had left the country in 1908 or 1909.
Their father was of Turkish origin and had felt unsafe in his country as the Mohammedans hunted down the people with other beliefs as he was a Christian, causing him to flee his country. Syria was still part of the Ottoman Empire so he wanted to go to America to live without the fear of being pursued by the vengeful islamists. He went with a neighbour, the merchant Najīb Mansūr Qiyāmah.
Having spent time in San Cristóbal, Venezuela for some monts, they disembarked in the big city of New York in 1910. Here, he would establish his own medical center. He had laid down a lot of the groundwork in 1912. He had the money to let Ūwjīnīyā, her two sisters and mother make their own journey to see him agan in America. While he was planning their voyage, his former neighbour, who had his own business, stepped in. He requested the Al-Ba’qlini family via a letter that was sent to Syria, if they should take Adāl Najīb Qiyāmah, his young daughter, with them. In quick succession, his letters arrived in Syria and it was settled. Adāl, who was about to be brought over to America to get married, left the Her mother and siblings were still there and would come later. Ūwjīnīyā and the other Syrians made their way to Beirut from Al-Swayr, via coach with horses. A ship would take this group to Marseilles in Southern France.
The first obstacle came here, as Ūwjīnīyā’s elder sister Mārīyā was found to have pink-eye, so the customs didn’t like the emigrants to continue until she was no longer contagious. This caused a delay. Originally the would take another ship, but fate decided it would be Titanic, as their first option to be their vessel of transport. After Mārīyā was cleared to go, they went to the north of France, where a huge, new ocean liner was awaiting them and over 270 others who wanted to go to Queenstown or New York.
Titanic []
When joining Titanic, Ūwjīnīyā was just 3 years old. Her mother had bought passage in Third Class for her, her children and the girl she would chapperone later. The ship had dropped her anchor in the harbor of Cherbourg at evening and took them over from the SS Traffic, a special small ship that could wade through the shallow water whereas Titanic couldn’t.
On April 14, the voyage of Titanic was hardly noteworthy for most passengers until something quite unfortunate happened. Titanic was at speed, navigating through an icefield on the late night, when suddenly a large iceberg appeared in front of her and was spotted far too late to get out of its way. A starboard collision happened and the hull was damaged on various spots below the water line. Seawater poored in, as the Al-Ba'qliní’s were disturbed out of their sleep. They were in their cabin at 23:40 when the ship hit.
On April 15, midnight, Captain Smith had research done to the ship’s breach hull. The inspection led to one conclusion: the ship was not going to make it. She would sink in 2 hours at best. Designer Thomas Andrews had just told him the awful truth. Meanwhile, Adāl and the Ba’qlini’s got dressed and Ūwjīnīyā and her sisters were taken up to at least 4 decks higher. Laţīfah had a sense that something was out of order with the ship. It was not easy for them to get to the highest deck. The reached the Boat Deck, where the lifeboats were, very late. Only 4 collapsibles were left. It’s likely that Adāl and the others didn’t take the same boat as the young girl was lost in the crowd. Collapsible C is pinned as the boat that Ūwjīnīyā with her family were in, to be rescued. All five of them were saved, making them lucky ones, as not many complete groups were saved in steerage. Although they had no man in their group and women and children went first. The end of Titanic came at 2:20 A.M, having broken in two, she sank. Many that were on board until they no longer could, were left at the mercy of the icey sea. Fortunately, these Syrians were saved from such a fate.
After the sinking[]
On The RMS Carpathia, a rescue ship that had steamed at full speed to their aid immediately when Titanic had requested her for help, the group was complete. She had not been able to get their in time, but she picked up all those who were left and made it off alive. From 4:00 A.M, she gathered eveyrone and left the wreck site later in the morning, with New York as next destiny. On April 18, the ex-Titanic passengers were in New York and disembarked. Ūwjīnīyā met the father of Adāl in Brooklyn, as her father Sulayman had left New York by then, not having gotten word about the Titanic tragedy.
Their life in New York now began. The whole family Al-Ba'qlīnī family changed their name to fit in. Ūwjīnīyā was now named Eugenie Baclini. Sadly, her life was crually cut short. In 4 months, she had mengitis, which ended up being lethal. Having survived the Titanic disaster, Eugenie Baclini died as a 3 year old, on August 30, 1912.
In 1913, a son was born to Laţīfah and Sulayman, David. He soon had a younger sister, as in 1914 Isabel was born.
Hilānah also died young of a disease. She had breast cancer in 1938, and it couldn’t be helped so she died in 1939.
- ↑ Age under dispute; often listed as being 3 years old in April 1912. Her Ellis Island record states her age as 4 years old in April 1912 and when she died in August 1912 her death certificate places her age as 5, perhaps meaning she was born between mid-April and late August 1907. This is unlikely, however, although not impossible; her sister Mariya was born 21 September 1906 which means that her mother would have to have conceived almost immediately following Mariya's birth.