Mr Tannūs Butrus-Ka'wī (Tannous Betros) was born in Zaghartā, al Shamal, Syria (now Lebanon) around 1891.

Tannūs was married to a woman named Minnah and they had three children, two sons and a daughter, and they lived in Ihdin in Zaghartā. He reportedly fled Lebanon due to the ongoing Turkish-Ottoman rule that had caused trouble for him and his village and he, his wife and children travelled from Beirut to Marseille intent on migration to America. However, his three children were not permitted entry into France due to illness and his wife was forced to take the children back to Beirut whilst he continued onward to Cherbourg where he joined the Titanic.

Tannūs Butrus-Ka'wī boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg as a third class passenger (ticket number 2648 which cost £7, 4s, 7d). He is believed to have been travelling to the USA with Hannā Mikā'īl Māmā and Sarkīs Lahhūd Ishaq Mu'awwad among other from the same locale, including the Nakid family.

Tannūs died in the sinking and his body, if recovered, was never identified.

His daughter is believed to have died within weeks of his own death and his widow Minnah is not thought to have remarried. What became of his family is unknown.