Camille Chamoun
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Camille Chamoun (April 3, 1900 - August 7, 1987) was President of Lebanon from 1952 to 1958, and served his country in numerous other capacities throughout his adult life. A staunch nationalist and fervent anti-communist, Chamoun opposed the Pan-Arabism advocated by Egypt's president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, and thwarted an attempted Pan-Arabist takeover of Lebanon in 1958. In the 1970s, he helped to found the Lebanese Front, a coalition of mostly Christian politicians and parties opposed to the Syrian occupation of Lebanon from 1976 onwards. He was Chairman of the Lebanese Front from 1974 to 1978. In his later life, he was known for his tactical cooperation with Israel.
Camille Nimer Chamoun (name also spelt Kamil Nemr Shamun) was born at Deir el-Qamar on 3 April, 1900, into a prominent Maronite family. He was educated in France and became a lawyer. He was first elected to the Lebanese parliament in 1934, and was reelected in 1937 and 1943. A champion of independence from France, he was arrested on 11 November 1943, and was imprisoned in Rashaïa castle, where he was held for eleven days, along with Bechara El Khoury and Riad el-Solh, who were to become the first President and Prime Minister, respectively, of the new republic. Massive public protests led to their release on 22 November, which has since been celebrated as National Lebanese Independence Day.
Chamoun was reelected to parliament, now called the National Assembly, in 1947 and 1951. He was frequently absent, however, as he served as ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1944 to 1946, and as ambassor to the United Nations thereafter. When President Bechara El-Khoury was forced to resign amid corruption allegations in 1952, Chamoun was elected to replace him. Near the end of his term, Pan-Arabists allied to Egypt's President Nasser, with considerable support in Lebanon's Muslim community, attempted to overthrow Chamoun's government in June 1958. Chamoun appealed to the United States for help, and American marines landed in Beirut. The revolt was squashed, but to appease Muslim anger, the moderate Christian General Fuad Chehab, who enjoyed considerable popularity in the Muslim community, was elected to succeed Chamoun.
On his retirement from the presidency, Chamoun founded the National Liberal Party (Ahrar,) to oppose Pan-Arabism. As the leader of this party, Chamoun was elected to the National Assembly again in 1960, much to the consternation of President Chehab. He was defeated in 1964, due to changes to the boundaries of his electoral district, which he and his supporters protested as deliberate gerrymander. He was reelected to the National Assembly, however, in 1968, and again in 1972 - Lebanon's last parliamentary election held in his lifetime. Following the election of 1968, the National Liberal Party held 11 seats out of 99, becoming the largest single party in the notoriously fractured National Assembly. It was the only political party to elect representatives from all of Lebanon's major religious confessions.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Chamoun served in a variety of portfolios in the Cabinet. In 1984, he agreed to join the National Unity government as Deputy Prime Minister, a post he held until his death in Beirut on 7 August 1987, at the age of 87. He was survived by his two sons, Dany and Dory, both of whom followed in his footsteps as respected politicians in their own right.
Timeline
- 1900: Born in Deir el-Qamar.
- 1934: Elected to the National Assembly.
- 1944: Lebanon's envoy to the United Kingdom.
- 1946: Chief Lebanese representative to the United Nations.
- 1952: Lebanese President after Bechara El Khoury has to resign after corruption charges
- 1958, June: Calls for American support in a Communist-inspired Muslim uprising during the Lebanon Crisis
- 1958, September: steps down in favor of Fuad Chehab
- 1974: Helps to found the Lebanese Front
- 1984: Joins the national unity government.
- 1987: August 7: Dies in Beirut.
| Preceded by: Fuad Chehab (acting) | President of Lebanon 1952–1958 | Succeeded by: Fuad Chehab |