Born in Deir al Qamar[1] to a Lebanese Eastern Orthodox Christian family, he served as a civil servant in the British Mandate of Palestine.

In the book, he raised concern about the fate of religious coexistence in Palestine in the face of Zionist colonization, while also recognizing the horror of anti-Jewish Nazism.

These officers proved particularly useful later during World War I after the leadership of the movement openly shifted allegiance to support the Entente.

Antonius graduated from Cambridge University and joined the newly formed British Mandate Administration in Palestine as the deputy in the Education Department.

His wife, Katy, was a daughter of Faris Nimr Pasha, a wealthy Lebanese Christian and cultural activist.