Philippe Takla (3 February 1915 – 10 July 2006) was a Lebanese lawyer, diplomat and politician who served as foreign minister.

Early life

Takla was born into a Greek Catholic family on 3 February 1915. His father, Salim Takla, was a politician and a member of 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 ...

from

Mount Lebanon Mount Lebanon ( ar, جَبَل لُبْنَان, ''jabal lubnān'', ; syr, ܛܘܪ ܠܒ݂ܢܢ, ', , ''ṭūr lewnōn'' french: Mont Liban) is a mountain range in Lebanon. It averages above in elevation, with its peak at . Geography The Mount Le ...

Career

Takla was a lawyer by profession. He was first elected to the Lebanese parliament in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

held in May 1945 in Mount Lebanon as a result of the death of his father, Salim Takla, on 11 January who was the deputy for the region. One of the candidates for the seat was

Elias Rababi Elias Rababi (1913–1999) was a Lebanese journalist and politician who served as the general secretary of the Kataeb Party. He was also Lebanese ambassador to Germany and Argentine. His other significant post was the editor-in-chief of the Katae ...

from the

Kataeb Party The Kataeb Party ( ar, حزب الكتائب اللبنانية '), also known in English as the Phalanges, is a Christian political party in Lebanon. The party played a major role in the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990). In decline in the lat ...

. Philippe Takla was also won the seat in the 1947 and 1957 general elections. He was the

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", " ...

from June 1951 to February 1952. He was appointed minister of economy in 1959. He was then named as minister of foreign affairs and of tourism in 1960. In 1964, he was holding the post of economy minister. Takla was the governor of the

Central bank of Lebanon Banque du Liban (BdL, ar, مصرف لبنان, English: Bank of Lebanon) is the central bank of Lebanon. It was established on August 1, 1963, and became fully operational on April 1, 1964. It is currently headed by Riad Salameh. One of the ma ...

from 1963 to 1967. In 1967, Takla began to serve as Lebanon's representative to

the U.N. U.N. was a Harlem, New York City-based hip hop duo formed by Cam'ron and Vado in 2009. The group came to formation after Cam'ron had a falling-out with fellow Harlem rapper and co-founder of the Diplomats, Jim Jones in 2007. The duo released ...

and then as ambassador in Paris from 1968 to 1971. In addition, he served seven times as foreign minister in various cabinets from 1952 to 1976, last of which was from July 1975 to June 1976.

Death and burial

Takla died on 10 July 2006 at the age of 91. His body was buried in Zouk Mikhael.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Takla, Philippe 1915 births 2006 deaths 20th-century diplomats Finance ministers of Lebanon Foreign ministers of Lebanon Government ministers of Lebanon Governors of Banque du Liban Ambassadors of Lebanon to France