Raouf Doss

One of the nicest people I ever met was Raouf Doss. I came to the Mathematics Department at SUNY Stony Brook in 1966 as a new Ph.D., and he came as a full professor. He had taught at Cairo University since the 1940's, but he left in 1965 because of the uncertainties of life under the dictatorship of Gamal Abdel Nasser. He and his wife Suzette, who was of Lebanese origin, spoke, first, French, second, English, and, third, Arabic, when they didn't want their children (three in number) to know what they were discussing. He was a Catholic Coptic, and in fact his cousin was a Cardinal.

Talk about a gentleman of the old school! He always lectured in a suit and tie, and he had impeccable manners. There was, of course, a certain amount of culture shock. At the first departmental party they hosted for a visiting mathematician, a lot of people congregated in the kitchen, which shocked Suzette, who exclaimed "In Egypt, only the servants are in the kitchen!" (At that party, one of my colleagues almost succeeded in toppling over one of the Doss's large, and expensive, vases. "I've heard about this happening, but I've never actually seen it done", he quipped.) Another time, for a block party, Suzette fixed falafel, and was a bit miffed when the neighbors complimented her on the Israeli food. I believe her thought, unexpressed, was "Not only are they taking over the territory, they are also taking over the food!" (To be sure, The Doss's were apolitical.) Another time, after the Six Day War, Raouf was eating falafel in an Israeli restaurant in Manhattan when someone approached him about buying an Israeli war bond. He replied that he just came there for the food.

I believe the first impression I made on them was when I shovelled snow from their driveway after a storm. Raouf later exclaimed, "We didn't even know you." We became fast friends, and they adapted to their culture shock. One of my favorite stories is about how they told their children not to have any parties in the house when they went on vacation at their apartment in Paris. Their children heeded their instructions to the letter, and they had their party on the back porch!

(to be continued)