Emile Morched Bustani (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

: اميل مرشد البستاني) was a Lebanese entrepreneur, philanthropist and politician.

Early life and education

Bustani was born in 1907 in

Dibbiyeh Dibbiyeh or Debbieh ( ar, الدبية) is a Lebanese village in the Ikleem Al Kharroub part of the Chouf district mountains, located roughly 30 kilometers south of Beirut, Lebanon. It is considered to be a midway point between the capital ...

–

Chouf Chouf (also spelled Shouf, Shuf or Chuf, in ''Jabal ash-Shouf''; french: La Montagne du Chouf) is a historic region of Lebanon, as well as an administrative district in the governorate (muhafazat) of Mount Lebanon. Geography Located south-east ...

. After he lost his father at age of six, Bustani was raised by American missionaries at the Gerard Institute in

Sidon Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast. ...

– South Lebanon. Later, Bustani received help from a wealthy Lebanese businessman to study engineering at 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 ...

, from where he received a BS in that field by 1929. In 1930, he rejoined AUB as an instructor in Physics and as a Graduate student he received his MA in Astro-Physics by 1932. A year later in 1933, he obtained a BS in civil engineering from

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

, USA.

Career

Back in Beirut after MIT, Bustani worked for a time with the

Iraq Petroleum Company The Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC), formerly known as the Turkish Petroleum Company (TPC), is an oil company that had a virtual monopoly on all oil exploration and production in Iraq between 1925 and 1961. It is jointly owned by some of the world's ...

, but soon founded his own Contracting and Trading Company, CAT – a company involved in laying and constructing oil pipelines, building roads and constructing cities throughout the Middle East. Bustani was elected a Member of Parliament in Lebanon in 1951, an office he held until his death in 1963.

Death and legacy

Bustani died on March 15, 1963 (age 56) when his airplane crashed off the coast of Beirut in a heavy storm.Death of Laura Bustani, widow of the late Emile Bustani - founder of the Dormitory and the Physics Halls at AUB (http://www.aub.edu.lb/news/2012/Pages/laura-bustani.aspx) He is the father of Mirna Bustani, first woman to be elected in the

Lebanese Parliament The Lebanese Parliament ( ar, مجلس النواب, translit=Majlis an-Nuwwab; french: Chambre des députés) is the national parliament of the Republic of Lebanon. There are 128 members elected to a four-year term in multi-member constit ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bustani, Emile 1907 births 1963 deaths Lebanese politicians Lebanese philanthropists Lebanese Maronites 20th-century philanthropists Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Lebanon People from Chouf District