Émile Eddé ( ar, إميل إدّه, translit=Imīl Iddah; 5 May 1886 – 28 September 1949) was a Lebanese Maronite Christian lawyer and politician who served as the

President of Lebanon The President of the Lebanese Republic ( ar, رئيس الجمهورية اللبنانية, rayiys aljumhuriat allubnania; french: Président de la République Libanaise) is the head of state of Lebanon. The president is elected by the parliame ...

for twelve days in 1943.

Early life and education

Eddé is a member of a family that originates from

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

which participated in the Lebanese politics mainly during the Ma'anids and

Shihabs The Shihab dynasty (alternatively spelled Chehab; ar, الشهابيون, ALA-LC: ''al-Shihābiyūn'') was an Arab family whose members served as the paramount tax farmers and local chiefs of Mount Lebanon from the early 18th to mid-19th centu ...

rule. He was born in Damascus, where his father, Ibrahim Eddé, was working as a translator in the French Consulate. He attended Saint Joseph University, and moved to France to study law in Aix-en-Provence, in 1902, and graduated three years later. Because of his father's health conditions, he was forced to return to Beirut in 1909, before submitting his doctoral thesis. In 1912, he was appointed as a lawyer for the French Consulate in Beirut. Before the First World War, he sought to separate Mount Lebanon from the Ottoman Empire, for which he was sentenced to death. However, Edde was able to escape and took refuge in Alexandria. He participated in the establishment of the Eastern Unit in the French Army, which consisted of Lebanese and Syrian volunteers. During this period, he maintained contacts, with the French authorities, via his brother Joseph, residing in France.

Political career

During the period of the French Mandate in which the Republic of Lebanon functioned under the authority of a French High Commissioner, Eddé served as the speaker of the Parliament from October 1924 to January 1925,Republic of Lebanon – House of Representatives History
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prime minister of Lebanon The Prime Minister of Lebanon, officially the President of the Council of Ministers, is the head of government and the head of the Council of Ministers of Lebanon. The Prime Minister is appointed by the president of Lebanon, with the consent ...

from 11 October 1929 to 25 March 1930 and as the

president of Lebanon The President of the Lebanese Republic ( ar, رئيس الجمهورية اللبنانية, rayiys aljumhuriat allubnania; french: Président de la République Libanaise) is the head of state of Lebanon. The president is elected by the parliame ...

from 1936 to 1941. On 11 November 1943, following the act of the Lebanese legislature in abolishing the Mandate, the High Commissioner installed Eddé as president. Ten days later, however, under pressure from France's other Allies in World War II, the French removed Eddé from office and restored the government of

Bechara El Khoury Bechara El Khoury ( ar, بشارة خليل الخوري; 10 August 1890 – 11 January 1964) was a Lebanese politician who served as the 1st president of Lebanon, holding office from 21 September 1943 to 18 September 1952, apart from an 11-day ...

on 21 November., James Barr, ''A Line in the Sand: The Anglo-French Struggle for the Middle East, 1914-1948'' (W. W. Norton & Company, 2012) pp. 244–250 and briefly in 1943. He also founded and led the

Lebanese National Bloc The National Bloc is a secular political party in Lebanon that was founded in 1943 as a parliamentary bloc for the 1943 Lebanese elections by Émile Eddé but was later formed as a political party in 1946. History The Lebanese National Bloc p ...

party. He was succeeded as party leader by his son

Raymond Eddé Raymond Eddé ( ar, ريمون إدّه; 15 March 1913 – 10 May 2000) was a Lebanese Maronite statesman who served his country for many years as a legislator and cabinet minister. He led the Lebanese National Bloc, an influential political p ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edde, Emile 1886 births 1949 deaths Aix-Marseille University alumni Lebanese Maronites Prime Ministers of Lebanon Presidents of Lebanon Legislative speakers of Lebanon Syrian Maronites National Bloc (Lebanon) politicians Political party founders Lebanon under French rule Maronites from the Ottoman Empire 20th-century people from the Ottoman Empire 19th-century people from the Ottoman Empire Lebanese independence activists