Angela Jurdak Khoury (September 24, 1915 - May 29, 2011) was a Lebanese diplomat and college professor based in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Early life

Angela Jurdak was born in

Dhour El Choueir Dhour El Choueir ( ar, ضهور الشوير), sometimes Dhour Shweir, is a mountain town in Lebanon ('dhour' meaning 'summit, top f a mountain) located in the Matn District. It lies slightly north of the main Beirut - Damascus highway, overlooki ...

, in the

Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate The Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate (1861–1918, ar, مُتَصَرِّفِيَّة جَبَل لُبْنَان, translit=Mutasarrifiyyat Jabal Lubnān; ) was one of the Ottoman Empire's subdivisions following the Tanzimat reform. After 1861, ther ...

(Modern day

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

) the daughter of Mansur Hanna Jurdak (1881-1964), a mathematician and astronomer on the faculty of the

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB) ( ar, الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, aut ...

, and Leah Abs Jurdak. Angela Jurdak attended the American Junior College for Women and then the American University of Beirut, completing undergraduate studies in 1937 and a master's degree in 1938, in sociology.Betty S. Anderson
''The American University of Beirut: Arab Nationalism and Liberal Education''
(University of Texas Press 2011): 117. Later in life, she earned a PhD in international relations, from

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

in Washington D.C.Office of Communications
"AUB Mourns Angela Jurdak Khoury"
''American University of Beirut'' (May 30, 2011). As a young woman, Jurdak was a member of the Lebanese national tennis team, played piano in concerts, and was known as a long-distance swimmer.

Career

Angela Jurdak taught sociology at the American University of Beirut beginning in 1938, the university's first woman instructor. She served as assistant director of the Allied Powers Radio Poll for Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine during World War II.Andrew Stimson
"Obituaries"
''The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs'' (August 2011): 63-64. After the war, she joined the Lebanese delegation to the United Nations and was a member of the Legation of Lebanon based in Washington, D.C. She was the first woman diplomat from Lebanon. She was Lebanese consul in New York for a time, and served on the

United Nations Commission on the Status of Women The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW or UNCSW) is a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one of the main UN organs within the United Nations. CSW has been described as the UN organ promoting gend ...

at its founding in 1946. She resigned from her work with the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1966. She was a professor of government at

George Mason University George Mason University (George Mason, Mason, or GMU) is a public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia with an independent City of Fairfax, Virginia postal address in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. The university was origin ...

from 1967 until she retired in 1982.Lea Lubag
"Former Government Professor and Diplomat Angela J. Khoury Dies"
''Mason Gazette'' (June 20, 2011).

Honors

Angela Jurdak Khoury was awarded the

National Order of the Cedar National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

by the Lebanese government in 1959. The Angela J. Khoury Award for Outstanding Senior in Government and International Politics is awarded at George Mason University in her memory.

Personal life

Angela Jurdak married lawyer Shukri Issa Khoury in 1949. They had two sons,

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

and George. She was widowed when Shukry Khoury died in 1985. Angela Jurdak Khoury died in 2011, aged 95 years, in Washington D.C. She lived in her later years with her sister Salma Mansur Jurdak, also a diplomat based in Washington D.C.; Salma Jurdak died in 2017 at age 97."Salma Mansur Jurdak"
''Washington Post'' (March 24, 2017).

References

External links

*
A photograph of Angela Jurdak in 1946
as part of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, with six other representatives including

Minerva Bernardino Minerva Bernardino (1907 – August 29, 1998) was a diplomat from the Dominican Republic who promoted women's rights internationally, and is best known as one of the four women to sign the original charter of the United Nations. Biography Berna ...

of the Dominican Republic,

Marie-Hélène Lefaucheux Marie-Hélène Lefaucheux (26 February 1904 – 25 February 1964) was a French women's and human rights activist. During World War II, she was a member of the French Resistance and orchestrated her husband's release from Buchenwald concentratio ...

of France, and

Bodil Begtrup Bodil Gertrud Begtrup (12 November 1903 – 12 December 1987) was a Danish women's rights activist and diplomat. In 1929, she became a member of the board of ''Kvinderådet'', in 1931, she was elected vice-president, and in the period 1946-49 she ...