Michel Murr ( ar, ميشال المرّ, 29 September 1931 – 31 January 2021) was a Lebanese politician and businessman. He served as member of parliament,

deputy prime minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

and interior minister and was a prominent and powerful lawmaker in the northern Metn region.

Early life and education

Michel Murr was born to a Greek Orthodox Christian family in the Matn District village of

Bteghrine Bteghrine ( ar, بتغرين, also spelled Bteghrin and Btighrin) is a municipality in the Matn District of the Mount Lebanon Governorate of Lebanon. Etymology The exact origin of the town name ''Bteghrine'' is unknown, but possibilities inclu ...

in 1931. His parents were Elias Murr and Rose Saliba, he had one brother,

Gabriel Murr Gabriel Murr ( ar, غابريال المرّ) is a Lebanese politician and businessman who launched MTV in 1991, and is the brother of Michel Murr. He is an open critic of the relationship that Lebanon has had with the Syrian Government. Person ...

, and four sisters including

May Murr May Murr, sometimes written as Mayy Murr ( ar, مي المر) (1929–2008) was a Lebanese professor, historian, writer, poet, and political activist. Before taking up writing, May Murr taught several subjects at several universities and institut ...

. He studied engineering at St Joseph University and graduated in 1955. He later studied law at the

University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

and graduated in 1958.

Political career

Michel Murr ran for a seat in the

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in 1960, but he lost to Albert Moukheiber. He then went to live in West Africa during much of the 1960s and made a sizable fortune there in the construction industry. He returned to Lebanon and tried to enter the parliament but failed again, while allying with the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, then he was elected to parliament in 1968 by aligning himself with Pierre Gemayel who dominated politics in the predominantly Maronite Christian Metn district. Murr lost his reelection bid in 1972, a defeat which he is said to have blamed on Gemayel. In 1969, he became the minister of post, telegraph and telephone during the premiership of Rashid Karami. After the 1975–76 civil war, he supported the

Phalange The phalanges (singular: ''phalanx'' ) are digital bones in the hands and feet of most vertebrates. In primates, the thumbs and big toes have two phalanges while the other digits have three phalanges. The phalanges are classed as long bones. ...

Kataeb Regulatory Forces (KRF) militia and its successor, the

Lebanese Forces The Lebanese Forces ( ar, القوات اللبنانية '')'' is a Lebanese Christian-based political party and former militia during the Lebanese Civil War. It currently holds 19 of the 128 seats in Lebanon's parliament and is therefore th ...

(LF) led by

Bashir 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. ...

, but not its "Arabist" camp, along with Karim Pakradouni. In the mid-1980s, he supported the pro-Syrian LF faction of

Elie Hobeika Elie Hobeika ( ar, إيلي حبيقة; 22 September 1956 – 24 January 2002) was a Lebanese militia commander in the Lebanese Forces militia during the Lebanese Civil War and one of Bashir Gemayel's close confidants. After the murder of Gem ...

and participated in the negotiation of the Tripartite Accord, an agreement signed by Hobeika, Druze chieftain

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 Fr ...

and Amal leader Nabih Berri that would have legalized the Syrian presence in Lebanon. Hobeika and Murr were subsequently ousted from the LF leadership by Samir Geagea. They spent the rest of the war years in Syrian-controlled Zahlé, waiting for the day when Damascus would complete its occupation of Lebanon. In 1979, he held the position of minister of post and housing in

Selim Hoss Selim Ahmed Hoss ( ar, سليم أحمد الحص; also transliterated ''Salim Al-Hoss;'' born 20 December 1929) is a veteran Lebanese politician who served as the Prime Minister of Lebanon and a longtime Member of Parliament representing his h ...

's government and then became the minister of telegraph, post and telephone in the government of Shafik Wazzan in 1980. Following Syria's takeover of Beirut in October 1990, he was rewarded for his loyalty to the Syrians and assumed the post of interior minister. He was

defense minister A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

from December 1990 to October 1992. On 20 March 1991, he survived an assassination attempt, when a

car bomb A car bomb, bus bomb, lorry bomb, or truck bomb, also known as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), is an improvised explosive device designed to be detonated in an automobile or other vehicles. Car bombs can be roughly divided ...

detonated near his motorcade in

Antelias Antelias ( ar, أنطلياس) is a city in Lebanon in the Matn District of the Mount Lebanon Governorate. It is located around 5 km to the north of Beirut. Etymology The name is originally Greek, ἀντήλιος – from ἀντί(ant ...

, killing eight people and wounding 35 others. Then he also served as

. When he was in office, he openly cooperated with the Syrian authorities. Murr was appointed interior minister in the 1996 Rafic Hariri cabinet and kept the post in the 1998

Salim Hoss Selim Ahmed Hoss ( ar, سليم أحمد الحص; also transliterated ''Salim Al-Hoss;'' born 20 December 1929) is a veteran Lebanese politician who served as the Prime Minister of Lebanon and a longtime Member of Parliament representing his h ...

government. Murr continued to serve in this post until 2000 when his son Elias Murr replaced him. Before the general elections of 2000, the

Metn district Matn ( ar, قضاء المتن, '), sometimes spelled Metn (or preceded by the article El, as in El Matn), is a district (''qadaa'') in the Mount Lebanon Governorate of Lebanon, east of the Lebanon's capital Beirut. The district capital is J ...

was designed by Syrian and Lebanese authorities to facilitate Murr's election victory. In October 2004, he was elected as deputy speaker of parliament. In the 2005 elections, he was a member of the Change and Reform bloc led by

Michel Aoun Michel Naim Aoun ( ar, ميشال نعيم عون ; born 30 September 1933) is a Lebanese politician and former military general who served as the President of Lebanon from 31 October 2016 until 30 October 2022. Born in Haret Hreik to a Mar ...

, but he later left the bloc to become an independent member. He was the leader of the Metn Bloc that is an independent political party. He last won a seat in the parliament in the

2018 Lebanese general election General elections were held in Lebanon on 6 May 2018. Although originally scheduled for 2013, the election was postponed three times in 2013, 2014 and 2017 under various pretexts, including the security situation, the failure of the Parliament ...

Personal life

He was married to Sylvie Abu Jaoude, and had three children: Elias, Mirna and Lena. His son, Elias, married Karine Lahoud, the daughter of then-army commander Emile Lahoud in 1992, but they later divorced. Michel Murr is the grandfather of Lebanese politician

Nayla Tueni Nayla Tueni Maktabi ( ar, نايلة تويني مكتبي) (born 31 August 1982) is a Lebanese journalist and politician. She was a member of the Lebanese Parliament for almost ten years (2009–2018), representing the district of Achrafieh. Tu ...

and ex-father-in-law of

Gebran Tueni Gebran Ghassan Tueni ( ar, جبران تويني; 15 September 1957 – 12 December 2005) was a Lebanese politician and the former editor and publisher of daily paper ''An Nahar'', established by his grandfather, also named Gebran Tueni, i ...

Death

On 31 January 2021, the National News Agency (NNA) announced that Murr had died due to complications from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Afterwards, his memorial service was held at the Saint Elias Greek Orthodox Church in

Rabieh Rabieh () is a suburban area on the northern edge of Greater Beirut, Lebanon, about 13 kilometers driving distance from Beirut. It is located in the foothills of Mount Lebanon, on the road to Bikfaya. Rabieh saw its population increase sharply in ...

, and he was later buried in his hometown, Bteghrine.

References

External links