Solange Gemayel (born 1949) is a Lebanese political figure 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 f ...

. 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 ...

-elect

Bachir Gemayel Bachir Pierre Gemayel ( ; 10 November 1947 – 14 September 1982) was a Lebanese militia commander who led the Lebanese Forces, the military wing of the Kataeb Party in the Lebanese Civil War and was elected President of Lebanon in 1982 ...

(1947–1982), who was assassinated days before he was due to take office in 1982, she helped to found the Bachir Gemayel Foundation, to keep his legacy alive.

Political activities and views

Solange Gemayel strongly opposed the

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

n military presence in

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 ...

, and was an enemy of the Syrian-backed government which took power in 1990. She is strongly pro-Western, and in 2003 she rattled the political establishment by publicly supporting

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

in his decision to attack

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

and depose the government of

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

. In 2002, she openly condemned

Karim Pakradouni Karim Pakradouni ( ar, كريم بقرادوني hy, Քերիմ Բագրատունի) (born 18 August 1944) is a Lebanese attorney and politician of Armenians in Lebanon, Armenian origin. He was influential in Kataeb Party heading it for some p ...

as the Kataeb's "imposed by force" leader and argued that he betrayed the real Phalange values that her husband fought for during his lifetime. Hosting a formal dinner at her home in August 2003, she praised what she called America's "historic step" to ''"establish democracy, fight terrorism, make peace and give the people a taste of freedom."'' She also joined her son, Nadim, in endorsing

Hikmat Dib Hikmat Dib ( ar, حكمت ديب) is a Lebanese Maronite politician of the Free Patriotic Movement. He graduated from the Faculty of Engineering at Saint Joseph University.

of the

Free Patriotic Movement The Free Patriotic Movement ( ar, التيار الوطني الحر, ) is a Lebanese political party. Founded by Michel Aoun in 2005, the party is currently led by Aoun son-in-law Gebran Bassil since 2015. Ideology The Free Patriotic movemen ...

in an important byelection. This put her (and her son) at odds with her brother-in-law, former President

Amine Gemayel Amine Pierre Gemayel ( ar, أمين بيار الجميٌل ; (born 22 January 1942) is a Lebanese Maronite politician who served as President of Lebanon from 1982 to 1988. Born in Bikfaya, his father was Pierre Gemayel, the founder of the K ...

, who endorsed the more moderate Henri Helou. Helou won, but by a much smaller margin than had been expected. She was an outspoken critic at several major demonstrations against the Syrian presence and the Syrian-backed government, in the wake of the 14 February assassination of former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

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 ...

Ghattas Khoury Ghattas Khoury is a professor of General and Vascular Surgery at the American University of Beirut Medical Center and a Lebanese politician. He is the former Minister of Culture in Lebanon (2016 - 2019). He is also a former member of the Lebanes ...

declared in May 2005 that he would withdraw from the Beirut elections for the sole Maronite seat, enabling Saad Hariri to include Solange Gemayel on his list.

Saad Hariri Saad El-Din Rafik Al-Hariri ( ar, سعد الدين رفيق الحريري, translit=Saʿd ad-Dīn Rafīq al-Ḥarīrī; born 18 April 1970) is a Lebanese-Saudi politician who served as the prime minister of Lebanon from 2009 to 2011 and 2016 ...

announced on 16 May 2005 that Gemayel would contest the election as a member of a multiconfessional electoral ticket he had compiled. On 30 May 2005, Gemayel was elected to represent the Beirut constituency. In 2009 elections, she stepped out the race in favor of her son, Nadim.

Personal life

Solange Tutunji married Bachir Gemayel in March 1977. Their first daughter, Maya, was born the following year. She was killed in 1980, by a car bomb intended against her father. A second daughter, Youmna, was born in 1980, and a son, Nadim, in 1982, only months before his father's assassination. Solange Gemayel raised her two surviving children to carry on their late father's legacy. Nadim indicated his intention to follow in the footsteps of his father and mother by participating in the political process. In October 2017, the Lebanese justice sentenced the killers of Bachir Gemayel, 35 years after the killing, a trial she said she "had been expecting".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gemayel, Solange 1949 births 21st-century Lebanese women politicians 20th-century Lebanese women First Ladies of Lebanon

Solange Solange (died 10 May, c. 880) was a Frankish shepherdess and a locally venerated Christian saint and cephalophore, whose cult is restricted to Sainte-Solange, Cher. Saint Solange was the patron of the traditional Province of Berry, of which C ...

Kataeb Party politicians Lebanese anti-communists Lebanese Maronites Lebanese socialites Living people Members of the Parliament of Lebanon Politicians from Beirut