René Moawad

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René Moawad (

Moawad made his first foray into politics in 1951, when he unsuccessfully contested a Zgharta seat in the National Assembly. Although he was defeated, the election forged a crucial alliance between him and the Frangieh clan. He was subsequently elected to the National Assembly in 1957, and reelected in 1960, 1964, 1968, and 1972 - the last parliamentary election held before his election to the presidency (the civil war that raged from 1975 to 1990 prevented further elections from being held in the meantime).

In 1952, Moawad was briefly arrested and detained in Aley for participating in the national uprising that forced the resignation of President Bechara El Khoury, Lebanon's first post-independence leader. He also fell out with Khoury's successor, Camille Chamoun, when the latter hinted at a possible constitutional change to extend his six-year term which was due to expire in 1958. He went into exile in Latakia, Syria. It was during his exile that he won his first election to the National Assembly.

Moawad became a strong supporter of Chamoun's successor,

On 25 October 1980, Moawad returned to the Cabinet as Minister of National Education and Fine Arts, in the government of President Elias Sarkis (who had succeeded Frangieh in 1976) and Prime Minister Shafik Wazzan, a position he held until the expiry of Sarkis's term on 24 September 1982. The strength of his alliance with Suleiman Frangieh was severely tested in that year, when Moawad voted to support Bachir Gemayel, Frangieh's rival, for the presidency. Despite Frangieh's anger, their friendship was so deep that it survived the test.

Election and assassination

Following the

No credible investigation into the murder has ever been carried out. To this day, the identity and motives of those responsible remain a matter of debate.^[6] Returning from the Cedar Revolution protest against the Syrian occupation on 14 March 2005, Nayla Moawad declared, "The independence of Lebanon was regained on March 14, and on March 14 I felt that I avenged (my husband's) assassination.".

Personal life and legacy

A

As the son of Anis Bey Mouawad,^[7] who had been mayor of the municipality, and his wife Evelyn Shalhoub, Moawad was the scion of a prominent Zgharta family, but he was the first member of the family to represent the constituency in Parliament.

In 1965, Moawad married Nayla Moawad,^[8] a relative of Moawad's old political opponent Bechara El Khoury. Despite the historical animosity between their two families, as well as the fact that she was fifteen years his junior, the marriage was evidently a happy one. Their daughter Rima Moawad^[9] is now a lawyer and a graduate of Harvard University in the United States, while their son Michel Moawad^[10] is a lawyer and businessman who graduated from Sorbonne University in Paris.

Moawad's widow Nayla founded the

• The René Moawad Garden in Sanayeh district in Beirut.

See also

• List of assassinated Lebanese politicians
• List of presidents of Lebanon

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References