George, or Jurji, bin Antonios bin Girges bin Michali Yanni was an author, translator, historian, journalist and member of the Arab Academy in Damascus. Born in Tripoli, he published his articles in Al-Jinan (The Gardens) and participated in publishing Al-Mabaheth (Sections) magazine in Tripoli in 1908. He published several articles in many renowned Arabic newspapers, the oldest of which are said to have been published in Syria and Egypt. A notorious bibliophile, Yanni was a known book collector and translated several of them, including The History of Modern Urbanization, The History of the Franco-Prussian War or French-German War, The History of Syria, The Wonders of the Sea and its Mercantile Tonnage, The History of Alexander II of Russia, and The Lady with the White Ribbon.