Question: Facts: - death place: damascus , ottoman syria - known for: diplomat businessman , first vice-consul of usa in damascus in 1859-1870 , physician , historian , musicial theorist , - caption: first us vice consul in damascus in 1859 - death date: july 19 , 1888 - birth date: march 20 , 1800 - name: mikhail mishaqa - image: mikhail mishaqa us vice consul in 1859.jpg - birth place: rashmayya , ottoman syria Based on these bullet points, write a short biography describing the life of mikhail mishaqa .
Answer:
mikhail mishaqa -lrb- 1800 -- 1888 ; -rrb- , also known as doctor mishaqa , was born in rashmayya , lebanon , and is reputed to be '' the first historian of modern ottoman syria '' as well as the '' virtual founder of the twenty-four equal quarter tone scale '' .mishaqa 's memoir of the 1860 syrian civil war is valuable to historians , as it is the only account written by a survivor of the massacre of syrian christians in damascus , syria .mikhail 's great-grandfather , jirjis mishaqa i , converted to greek catholicism .jirjis ' father , youssef petraki , an ethnic christian orthodox greek , moved from corfu , greece to tripoli , lebanon to pursue the silk trade .as such , petraki , named himself after an arabic term describing the process of filtering silk fibers , '' mishaqa '' -lrb- -rrb- .mikhail 's father , jirjis mishaqa ii , moved to deir al-qamar , then controlled by the shihabs , to escape the religious repression of al-jazzar , the governor of sidon .he began a career as a goldsmith but became a scribe and then chief treasurer for the amir of mount lebanon , bashir ii 's household .according to leila fawaz , mikhail was well-educated ; '' at the first opportunity he showed of his knowledge and the ignorance of the offender .in such ways , mishaqa continued to educate himself .he taught himself medicine and became a doctor ; in 1859 he was appointed vice-consul of the united states in damascus . ''in 1848 , dr. mishaqa converted from greek catholicism to protestantism , after coming in contact with american protestant missionaries .according to touma , mishaqa was the first theorist to propose a division of the octave into roughly twenty-four equal intervals -lrb- 24-tone equal temperament , quarter tone scale , -rrb- , this being the current basis of the arab tone system .however , mishaqa 's work '' essay on the art of music for the emir shihab '' -lrb- , '' al-risala al-shihabiyya fi ' l-sina ' a al-musiqiyya '' -rrb- -lrb- c. 1840 -rrb- is devoted to the topic but also makes clear his...