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Nayla Moawad (, ar, نايلة معوض) (born 3 July 1940) is a
Lebanese politician and former
First Lady of Lebanon
The First Lady of Lebanon is the title attributed to the wife of the President of Lebanon. The country's present first lady is Nadia Aoun, wife of Acting President General Michel Aoun, who has held the position till October 31, 2022.
List of fir ...
. Outside of Lebanon, she is best known as the widow 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 ful ...
René Moawad
René Moawad ( ar, رينيه معوض; 17 April 1925 in Zgharta – 22 November 1989 in Beirut) was a Lebanese politician who served as the 9th President of Lebanon. He served for 18 days, from 5 to 22 November 1989, before his assassination by ...
, who was assassinated on 22 November 1989. Within Lebanon, she is a high-profile politician in her own right, having served as a member of the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
since 1991. Following her
reelection
The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-ele ...
in June 2005, she was appointed to the
Cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filing ...
on 19 July as Minister for Social Affairs.
Early life and education
Born in
Bsharri
Bsharri ( ar, بشرّي ''Bšarrī''; syr, ܒܫܪܝ; also Romanized ''Becharre'', ''Bcharre'', ''Bsharre'', (''Bcharre El Arez بشرّي الارز'') is a town at an altitude of about to . It is located in the Bsharri District of the Nort ...
, Lebanon, as the daughter of Nagib Issa El-Khouri and Evelyne Roch. Her father was the scion of a prominent
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 ...
Christian family and a relative of
Bechara El Khoury
Bechara El Khoury ( ar, بشارة خليل الخوري; 10 August 1890 – 11 January 1964) was a Lebanese politician who served as the 1st president of Lebanon, holding office from 21 September 1943 to 18 September 1952, apart from an 11-day ...
, Lebanon's first post-independence president. She was educated at the
Ecole des Franciscaines Missionnaires de Marie, Rue du Musee, a
Catholic school
Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...
, and subsequently graduated from
Saint Joseph's University
Saint Joseph's University (SJU or St. Joe's) is a private Jesuit university in Philadelphia and Lower Merion, Pennsylvania. The university was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1851 as Saint Joseph's College. Saint Joseph's is the seventh olde ...
with a bachelor of arts degree in French literature and history. She later studied English at
Cambridge University
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
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 ...
.
Career and marriage
From 1962 to 1965, Moawad worked as a journalist for the daily newspaper, ''
L'Orient
Lorient (; ) is a town ('' commune'') and seaport in the Morbihan department of Brittany in western France.
History
Prehistory and classical antiquity
Beginning around 3000 BC, settlements in the area of Lorient are attested by the presen ...
.'' In 1965, she married René Moawad,
surprising many people since he was the scion of a rival clan, who was fifteen years her senior. Despite the disparity in their ages, and despite the traditional antagonism between their families, the marriage was a happy one and produced two children.
Rima
Rima, also known as Rima the Jungle Girl, is the fictional heroine of W. H. Hudson's 1904 novel '' Green Mansions: A Romance of the Tropical Forest''. In it, Rima, a primitive girl of the shrinking rain forest of South America, meets Abel, a pol ...
, a lawyer and a graduate of
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, and
Michel
Michel may refer to:
* Michel (name), a given name or surname of French origin (and list of people with the name)
* Míchel (nickname), a nickname (a list of people with the nickname, mainly Spanish footballers)
* Míchel (footballer, born 1963), ...
, also a lawyer and businessman, who graduated from
Sorbonne University
Sorbonne University (french: Sorbonne Université; la Sorbonne: 'the Sorbonne') is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon ...
in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
.
Moawad sought to perpuate her slain husband's legacy by founding the
René Moawad Foundation in 1990,
[ which works for social justice and economic development in Lebanon and the Arab world. Since 1994, she has served as president of the Center for Research and Education on Democracy.
]
Parliamentary career
Moawad became a member of the National Assembly in 1991, representing the Zgharta
Zgharta ( ar, زغرتا, syc, ܙܓܪܬܐ), also spelled Zghorta, is a city in North Lebanon, with an estimated population of around 50,000. It is the second biggest city in Northern Lebanon after Tripoli.
Zgharta is about 150 metres above sea ...
-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 ...
constituency in northern Lebanon.[ She served on numerous parliamentary committees, specializing in such diverse fields as finance, children's rights, and education. She campaigned strongly for women's and children's rights, and opposed political corruption. She is a prominent member of the Qornet Shehwan Gathering, a ]coalition
A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces.
Formation
According to ''A Gui ...
of Christian parliamentarians which opposed the Syrian military presence in Lebanon and continues to campaign for the building of a modern, democratic nation state. She is also a member of the Democratic Forum, a coalition comprising both Christian and Muslim parliamentarians opposed to the pro-Syrian government. She has also been affiliated with the National Front, a multi-sectarian parliamentary block working for political reforms. In the general election
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
held in May–June 2005, she retained her seat.
In 2004, Moawad announced her candidacy for the presidency in elections scheduled to be held that year. These were postponed, however, until 2007.
Moawad's son, Michel, founded a new political party in 2006 called Independence Movement
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...
. The movement is part of the anti-Syrian Qornet Shehwan Gathering and the March 14 Alliance
The March 14 Alliance ( ar, تحالف 14 آذار, taḥāluf 14 adhār}), named after the date of the Cedar Revolution, is a coalition of political parties and independents in Lebanon formed in 2005 that are united by their anti-Syrian stance ...
. During the period between 2005 and 2009 it had 3 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 ...
Christian MPs for the Zgharta District
Zgharta District ( ar, زغرتا) is a district (''qadaa'') of the North Governorate, northern Lebanon. Its capital is the city of Zgharta.
Geography
The administrative center is the city of Zgharta. The district has 101 populated areas with 30 ...
in the Lebanese Parliament, namely Nayla Moawad, Jawad Simon Boulos and Samir Frangieh
Samir Frangieh (4 December 1945 – 11 April 2017) was a Lebanese politician and a leftist intellectual. He was a member of the Lebanese Parliament. He was from the Frangieh family, one of the well-known political families of Lebanon.
Early li ...
. Since 2009, the party has been led by Michel René Moawad, Jawad Simon Boulos and Youssef Bahaa El Douaihy.
In the 2009 Lebanese elections, Moawad decided not to run for a seat in her district. She instead encouraged and supported the election of her son Michel. He and the Independence Movement's other two candidates in the district lost to their opponent Suleiman Frangieh
Suleiman Kabalan Frangieh, last name also spelled ''Frangié,'' ''Franjieh,'' or ''Franjiyeh'' (, 15 June 1910 – 23 July 1992), was a Lebanese Maronite politician who was President of Lebanon from 1970 to 1976.
Early life and education
Sulei ...
and his coalition. Nayla Moawad still remains a strong anti-Syrian lobbyist and is still a member of the 14 March Movement.
References
External links
Ehden Family Tree
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moawad, Nayla
1940 births
21st-century Lebanese women politicians
21st-century Lebanese politicians
Alumni of the University of Cambridge
First Ladies of Lebanon
Government ministers of Lebanon
Lebanese journalists
Lebanese Maronites
Lebanese socialites
Living people
Members of the Parliament of Lebanon
People from Bsharri
Saint Joseph University alumni
Women government ministers of Lebanon
Lebanese women in politics