Dany Chamoun ( ar, داني شمعون; 26 August 1934 – 21 October 1990) was a prominent Lebanese politician. A

Maronite The Maronites ( ar, الموارنة; syr, ܡܖ̈ܘܢܝܐ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and Levant region of the Middle East, whose members traditionally belong to the Maronite Church, with the lar ...

Christian, the younger son of former

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Camille Chamoun Camille Nimr Chamoun OM, ONC ( ar, كميل نمر شمعون, ''Kamīl Sham'ūn''; 3 April 1900 – 7 August 1987) was a Lebanese politician who served as President of Lebanon from 1952 to 1958. He was one of the country's main Christi ...

and brother of

Dory Chamoun Dory Chamoun ( ar, دوري شمعون) (born 1931) is a Lebanese politician who led the National Liberal Party (NLP) from 25 May 1991 till 10 April 2021 when he was succeeded by his son Camille Dory Chamoun who became a MP in the 2022 Lebane ...

, Chamoun was also a politician in his own right. On October 21, 1990, he and his family were

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the ...

ed by the

Lebanese Forces The Lebanese Forces ( ar, القوات اللبنانية '')'' is a Lebanon, Lebanese Christianity in Lebanon, Christian-based political party and Lebanese Forces (militia), former militia during the Lebanese Civil War. It currently holds 19 o ...

that led by the head of its political party,

Samir Geagea Samir Farid Geagea ( ar, سمير فريد جعجع Lebanese pron.: , also spelled Samir Ja'ja'; born 25 October 1952) is a Lebanese politician and militia commander who has been leading the Lebanese Forces party and dissolved militia ...

Biography

Early life and education

Chamoun was born in

Deir el-Qamar Deir or DEIR may refer to: *Ad Deir or The Monastery, a building in Petra, Jordan * Tell Deir, an archaeological site in Lebanon *Deir ez-Zor , population_urban = , population_density_urban_km2 = , population_density_urban_sq_mi = ...

on 26 August 1934. He was the younger son of the former President

. He studied civil engineering in

the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when ...

Political career

Chamoun reported that he had not had any interest in politics before the Lebanon civil war. He became the National Liberal Party Secretary of Defense in January 1976, after the death of its predecessor Naim Berdkan. As Supreme Commander of the NLP's military wing, the

Tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on un ...

, he also played a major role in the early years of the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...

. By 1980, the Phalangist-dominated

were under the command of

Bachir Gemayel Bachir Pierre Gemayel ( ; 10 November 1947 – 14 September 1982) was a Lebanese militia commander who led the Lebanese Forces, the military wing of the Kataeb Party in the Lebanese Civil War and was elected President of Lebanon in 1982 ...

. The Tigers were eliminated as a military force in a

surprise attack Military deception (MILDEC) is an attempt by a military unit to gain an advantage during warfare by misleading adversary decision makers into taking action or inaction that creates favorable conditions for the deceiving force. This is usually ac ...

by Gemayel’s militia on 7 July 1980. Chamoun's life was spared, and he fled to the

Sunni Muslim Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagre ...

-dominated West

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

. He then went into self-imposed exile. He served as General Secretary of the National Liberal Party from 1983 to 1985, when he replaced his father as the party leader. In 1988, he became President of the revived

Lebanese Front The Lebanese Front ( ar, الجبهة اللبنانية, ''al-Jabha al-Lubnaniyya'') or ''Front Libanais'' in French, was a coalition of mainly Lebanese Nationalist parties formed in 1976 by majority Christian intellectuals during the Lebane ...

—a coalition of nationalist and mainly Christian parties and politicians that his father had helped to found. The same year, he announced his candidacy for the Presidency of Lebanon to succeed

Amine Gemayel Amine Pierre Gemayel ( ar, أمين بيار الجميٌل ; (born 22 January 1942) is a Lebanese Maronite politician who served as President of Lebanon from 1982 to 1988. Born in Bikfaya, his father was Pierre Gemayel, the founder of the K ...

(Bashir's brother), but

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

(which by this time occupied some 70 percent of Lebanese territory) vetoed his candidacy. Gemayel's term expired on 23 September 1988 without the election of a successor. Chamoun declared his strong support for

Michel Aoun Michel Naim Aoun ( ar, ميشال نعيم عون ; born 30 September 1933) is a Lebanese politician and former military general who served as the President of Lebanon from 31 October 2016 until 30 October 2022. Born in Haret Hreik to a ...

, who had been appointed by the outgoing president to lead an interim administration and went on to lead one of two rival governments that contended for power over the next two years. He strongly opposed the

Taif Agreement The Taif Agreement ( ar, اتفاق الطائف), officially known as the ( ar, وثيقة الوفاق الوطني, label=none'')'', was reached to provide "the basis for the ending of the civil war and the return to political normalcy in Le ...

, which not only gave a greater share of power to the Muslim community than they had enjoyed previously, but more seriously, in Chamoun's opinion, formalized what he saw as the master-servant relationship between Syria and Lebanon, and refused to recognize the new government of the President

Elias Hrawi Elias Hrawi ( ar, الياس الهراوي, 4 September 1926 – 7 July 2006) was president of Lebanon, whose term of office ran from 1989 to 1998. Early life and education Hrawi was born in Hawch Al Umara, Zahlé, to a wealthy landowning Mar ...

, who was elected under the Taif Agreement.

Death

On 21 October 1990, Chamoun, along with his second wife Ingrid Abdelnour (forty-five), and their two sons, Tarek (seven) and Julian (five), were shot dead when the Lebanese Forces attacked their home while their youngest daughter, Tamara (11 months old), was also shot but survived."Lebanese Ex-Warlord Sentenced in Rival's Slaying : Mideast: Christian is the first militia chief convicted of civil war crimes. Many received amnesty. Eleven associates are also sentenced."
''Los Angeles Times'', 25 June 1995. Retrieved on 22 October 2016. On 24 June 1995, the Lebanese Tribunal found

guilty of the murder of Dany Chamoun and his family. He was sentenced to death commuted to life in prison with hard labour. Co-defendants Camille Karam and Rafic Saadeh were sentenced to ten and one year respectively. Ten other members of the

were sentenced to life in absentia. The case was based entirely on circumstantial evidence and the trial was described by

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and s ...

as seriously flawed. Geagea remained on trial for the Saydet al-Najat Church bombing. The verdict was rejected by a part of the Lebanese public opinion and by Dany's brother, Dori Chamoun, who declared that the Syrian occupation army was responsible of the massacre. Geagea was released as a part of a joint goodwill national reconciliation policy, after the Syrian departure.Kennan, Rodeina
"Lebanon Militia Leader's Sentence For Murders Fans Religious Tension "

', 25 June 1995.

References

External links