Angela Jurdak Khoury (; September 24, 1915 - May 29, 2011) was a Lebanese diplomat and college professor based in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

representative to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women CSW at its founding years during the drafting of the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal D ...

Early life

Khoury was born in

Dhour El Choueir Dhour El Choueir (), sometimes Dhour Shweir, is a mountain town in Lebanon ('dhour' meaning 'summit, top f a mountain) located in the Matn District. It lies slightly north of the main Beirut - Damascus highway, overlooking the city of Beirut and ...

, in the

Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate The Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate (1861–1918, ; ) was one of the Ottoman Empire's subdivisions following the 19th-century Tanzimat reform. After 1861, there existed an autonomous Mount Lebanon with a Christian Mutasarrif (governor), which had be ...

(Modern day

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

) the daughter of Mansur Hanna Jurdak (1881-1964), a mathematician and astronomer on the faculty of the

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB; ) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its main campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, autonomous board of trustees and offers programs le ...

, and Leah Abs Jurdak. Khoury attended the American Junior College for Women and then the American University of Beirut, completing undergraduate studies in 1937 and a master's degree in 1938, in sociology.Betty S. Anderson
''The American University of Beirut: Arab Nationalism and Liberal Education''
(University of Texas Press 2011): 117. Later in life, she earned a PhD in international relations, from

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

in Washington D.C.Office of Communications
"AUB Mourns Angela Jurdak Khoury"
''American University of Beirut'' (May 30, 2011). As a young woman, Khoury was a member of the Lebanese national tennis team, played piano in concerts, and was known as a long-distance swimmer.

Career

Khoury taught sociology at the American University of Beirut beginning in 1938, the university's first woman instructor. She served as assistant director of the Allied Powers Radio Poll for Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine during World War II.Andrew Stimson
"Obituaries"
''The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs'' (August 2011): 63-64. After the war, she joined the Lebanese delegation to the United Nations and was a member of the Legation of Lebanon based in Washington, D.C. She was the first woman diplomat from Lebanon. She was Lebanese consul in New York for a time, and served on the

United Nations Commission on the Status of Women The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW or UNCSW) is a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one of the principal organs of the United Nations. CSW has been described as the UN organ promoting gen ...

at its founding in 1946. She resigned from her work with the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1966. She was a professor of government at

George Mason University George Mason University (GMU) is a Public university, public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Located in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., the university is named in honor of George Mason, a Founding Father ...

from 1967 until she retired in 1982.Lea Lubag
"Former Government Professor and Diplomat Angela J. Khoury Dies"
''Mason Gazette'' (June 20, 2011).

Honors

Khoury was awarded the

National Order of the Cedar The National Order of the Cedar () is the highest Order (honour), state order of Lebanon, established on 31 December 1936. It is offered in five grades. History The Order was created on the 31 December 1936, but is regulated by the Lebanese C ...

by the Lebanese government in 1959. The Angela J. Khoury Award for Outstanding Senior in Government and International Politics is awarded at George Mason University in her memory.

Personal life

Khoury married lawyer Shukry Issa Khoury in 1949. They had two sons,

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Macedonian Old Koine language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominen ...

and George. She was widowed when Shukry Khoury died in 1985. Angela Jurdak Khoury died in 2011, aged 95 years, in Washington D.C. She lived in her later years with her sister Salma Mansur Jurdak, also a diplomat based in Washington D.C.; Salma Jurdak died in 2017 at age 97."Salma Mansur Jurdak"
''Washington Post'' (March 24, 2017).

References

External links

*
A photograph of Angela Jurdak in 1946
as part of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, with six other representatives including

Minerva Bernardino Minerva Bernardino (1907 – August 29, 1998) was a diplomat from the Dominican Republic who promoted women's rights internationally, and is best known as one of the four women to sign the original charter of the United Nations. Minerva Bernardin ...

of the Dominican Republic,

Marie-Hélène Lefaucheux Marie-Hélène Lefaucheux (26 February 1904 – 25 February 1964) was a French women's and human rights activist. During World War II, she was a member of the French Resistance and orchestrated her husband's release from Buchenwald concentrat ...

of France, and

Bodil Begtrup Bodil Gertrud Begtrup (12 November 1903 – 12 December 1987) was a Danish women's rights activist and diplomat. In 1929, she became a member of the board of ''Kvinderådet'', in 1931, she was elected vice-president, and in the period 1946-1949 s ...