Hamid Frangieh (6 August 1907 – 5 September 1981) was a Lebanese member of the

Parliament of Lebanon 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 ...

and held numerous ministerial positions in the Lebanese government. He was one of the

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 larges ...

leaders of

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 ...

Early life

Hamid was born in

Ehden Ehden ( ar, إِهْدِن, Syriac-Aramaic: ܐܗܕ ܢ ) is a mountainous city in the heart of the northern mountains of Lebanon and on the southwestern slopes of Mount Makmal in the Mount Lebanon Range. Its residents are the people of Zgharta, as ...

Lebanon, the son of Kabalan Suleimen Frangieh and Lamia Raffoul from Ejbah Lebanon. The family had a long history of public service, his grandfather (1847-1908) acting as District Governor; his father, a member of Parliament (in 1929); and his brother

Suleiman Suleiman (Arabic language, Arabic: سُلِيمَان ''sulaymān''; or dictionary.reference.comsuleiman/ref>) is the Arabic name of the Quranic king and Islam, Islamic prophet Solomon (name), Solomon meaning "man of peace", derived from the Heb ...

becoming

President of Lebanon The President of the Lebanese Republic ( ar, رئيس الجمهورية اللبنانية, rayiys aljumhuriat allubnania; french: Président de la République Libanaise) is the head of state of Lebanon. The president is elected by the parliame ...

. Hamid attended "Frères des Ecoles Chrétiennes" school in

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

, for his primary education, then to

Aintoura Aintoura ( ar, عينطورة) is a town and municipality in the Keserwan District of the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate, Lebanon. It is located 18 kilometers north of Beirut. The average elevation of Aintoura is 230 meters above sea level and its tot ...

for his secondary education. In 1930, he graduated in

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

from the

Université de Saint-Joseph Saint Joseph University of Beirut ( French: ''Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth'', abbreviated to and commonly known as "USJ") is a private Catholic research university located in Beirut, Lebanon, which was founded in 1875 by French Jesuit mis ...

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 ...

. His early career was both in the law and

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

, with Hamid becoming one of the cofounders and columnists of the ''

Le Jour ''Le Jour'' (French for "The Day") was a Quebec independence newspaper. It was founded in Saint-Laurent, near Montreal, by Yves Michaud, Jacques Parizeau and René Lévesque. Michaud was editor-in-chief. The paper was published as a daily from ...

'' newspaper in 1933.

Government career

Frangieh was elected as a member of Parliament for the first time in 1932 at age of 25. In 1937 he became the sole member of the opposition in North Lebanon to be elected. He was elected again on a further five times in 1943, 1947, 1951, 1953 and 1957 before he withdrew from political life due to illness. He was instrumental in ensuring

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

's first world conference was held in Beirut. During his tenure as a member of Parliament, he also held ministerial offices, including as follows: *

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

(July 1944 - January 1945) * Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Education (1945 - 1949) * Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigration, resigned 2 months later due to ill health (1941, 1955)

Personal life

In 1941 he married his cousin and they had six children: Kabalan,

Samir Samir (variantly spelled Sameer) is a male name found commonly in the Middle East, Central Asia and Europe. In Arabic, Samir () means holy, jovial, loyal or charming. In Albanian, it translates literally as “so good” but the connotation is clo ...

, Nabil, Marie-Claude, Zeina and Liliane.

References

External links

Hamid Frangieh on Ehden Family Tree Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Frangieh, Hamid 1907 births 1981 deaths People from Zgharta Lebanese Maronites Finance ministers of Lebanon Foreign ministers of Lebanon Members of the Parliament of Lebanon Hamid Beik Candidates for President of Lebanon