Hamid Frangieh

Hamid Bey Frangieh
Hamid Bey Frangieh in 1948
7th Foreign Minister of Lebanon
In office
1955–1955
Prime MinisterSami El Solh
Preceded byAlfred Naccache
Succeeded bySalim Lahoud
2nd Finance Minister of Lebanon
In office
3 July 1944 – 9 January 1945
Prime MinisterRiad Al Solh
Preceded byRiad Al Solh
Succeeded byAbdul Hamid Karami
Personal details
Born6 August 1907
Died5 September 1981
Political partyIndependent

Hamid Frangieh (6 August 1907 – 5 September 1981) was a Lebanese member of the Parliament of Lebanon and held numerous ministerial positions in the Lebanese government. He was one of the Maronite leaders of Lebanon.[1]

Early life

Hamid was born in Ehden Lebanon, the son of politician Kabalan Suleimen Frangieh[2] and Lamia Raffoul[3] from Ejbeh Lebanon. The family had a long history of public service. Kabalan Frangieh was district governor of Ehden (1908–1913) and a member of the parliament (1929–1932). His grandfather, Suleiman Ghnatios Frangieh, was district governor of Ehden (1904–1908); and his brother Suleiman[4] became President of Lebanon.

Hamid attended "Frères des Ecoles Chrétiennes" school in Tripoli, for his primary education, then to Aintoura for his secondary education. In 1930, he graduated in law from the Université de Saint-Joseph in Beirut.

His early career was both in the law and journalism, with Hamid becoming one of the cofounders and columnists of the Le Jour newspaper in 1933.

Government career

Frangieh was elected as a member of Parliament for the first time in 1932 aged 25. In 1937 he became the sole member of the opposition in North Lebanon to be elected. He was elected again on a further five times in 1943, 1947, 1951, 1953 and 1957 before he withdrew from political life due to illness. He was instrumental in ensuring UNESCO's first world conference was held in Beirut.

During his tenure as a member of Parliament, he also held ministerial offices, including as follows:

  • Minister of Finance (July 1944 - January 1945)[5]
  • Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Education (1945 - 1949)
  • Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigration, resigned 2 months later due to ill health (1941, 1955)

Personal life

In 1941 he married his cousin and they had six children: Kabalan, Samir, Nabil, Marie-Claude, Zeina and Liliane.

References

  1. ^ Barak, Oren (2002). "Conflict and Peace in Lebanon" (PDF). Int. J. Middle East Stud.: 619–644. doi:10.1017/S0020743802004026. S2CID 161175759. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 August 2007. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  2. ^ Kabalan Frangieh on Ehden Family Tree website
  3. ^ Lamia Raffoul on Ehden Family Tree website
  4. ^ "President Sleiman Frangieh on Ehden Family Tree website". Archived from the original on 2021-01-19. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
  5. ^ "Former Ministers". December 18, 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-12-18.