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 life

Frangieh was born in

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 ...

on 4 December 1945. He hailed from an old political family, Frangieh family. He is the son of Hamid Kabalan Frangieh and Lamia Michel (née Raffoul). Hamid Frangieh was the elder brother of

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 ...

who was the

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 ...

in the period 1970-1976. Therefore, Suleiman Frangieh Jr. and Samir Frangieh were cousins.

Career

Frangieh was a leading journalist. He contributed to many leading publications, including ''L'Orient'' (1970), ''

L'Orient-Le Jour ''L'Orient-Le Jour'' () is a leading French-language daily newspaper in Lebanon. History ''L'Orient-Le Jour'' was first published on 15 June 1971, following the merger of two French language Lebanese dailies, ''L'Orient'' (founded in Beirut in ...

'' (1971–1975), ''

Le Monde diplomatique ''Le Monde diplomatique'' (meaning "The Diplomatic World" in French) is a French monthly newspaper offering analysis and opinion on politics, culture, and current affairs. The publication is owned by Le Monde diplomatique SA, a subsidiary com ...

'', ''

Libération ''Libération'' (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Initially positioned on the far-left of France's ...

'', ''

An Nahar ''An-Nahar'' ( ar, النهار, lit=The Day or The Morning) is a leading Arabic-language daily newspaper published in Lebanon. In the 1980s, ''An-Nahar'' was described by the ''New York Times'' and ''Time Magazine'' as the newspaper of record fo ...

'', '' As Safir'' and ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

''. He joined the

Lebanese Communist Party The Lebanese Communist Party (LCP), abbr. PCL is a communist party in Lebanon. It was founded in 1924 by the Lebanese intellectual, writer and reporter Yusuf Yazbek and Fu'ad al-Shamali, a tobacco worker from Bikfaya. History Creation The Sy ...

and left it in 1967. He was the founder of the Lebanese Communist Union which was disestablished in 1970. He was also a member of the National Movement Center. During the term of President

Émile Lahoud Émile Jamil Lahoud (born 12 January 1936) was a Lebanese politician who served as the 16th president of Lebanon from 1998 to 2007. His main foreign-policy achievement was to end the Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon in May 2000, which was ...

, Frangieh was one of the opposition leaders, who tried to challenge close allies of the president. The opposition group was also led by

Rafik Hariri Rafik is the given name of: * Rafik Al-Hariri (1944–2005), business tycoon, former Prime Minister of Lebanon * Rafik Bouderbal (born 1987), French-born Algerian player currently playing for ES Sétif in the Algerian Championnat National * Rafik ...

and

Walid Jumblatt Walid Kamal Jumblatt ( ar, وليد جنبلاط; born 7 August 1949) is a Lebanese Druze politician and former militia commander who has been leading the Progressive Socialist Party since 1977. While leading the Lebanese National Resistance ...

. Frangieh was a political ally of Jumblatt. Frangieh was also one of the founders of the Qornet Shehwan Gathering. In addition, he was part of the 14 March Alliance and a member of its general secretariat. He was the author of "Beirut manifesto" that was published in ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'' on 22 June 2004. The manifesto, which was signed by Lebanese intellectuals and eminent public figures, challenged the dominance of Syria in Lebanon. In the 2005 general elections, he became a member of the Lebanese Parliament, representing Zgharta. However, in the

general elections 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 ( ...

of 2009, Frangieh was not included in the election list of the March 14 alliance.

Personal life and death

Frangieh was married to Anne Mourani with whom he had two children. He was the author of ''The Journey to the Extreme of Violence'' that was published in 2011. He died on 11 April 2017 in Beirut's Hotel Dieu Hospital.

References

External links

Samir Frangieh on Ehden Family Tree
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Frangieh, Samir 20th-century journalists 20th-century Lebanese writers 21st-century journalists 21st-century Lebanese writers 1945 births 2017 deaths Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur Deaths from cancer in Lebanon

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 ...

Lebanese journalists Lebanese Maronites March 14 Alliance Members of the Parliament of Lebanon People from Zgharta Lebanese Communist Party politicians