Jean Obeid ( ar, جان عبيد; 8 May 19398 February 2021) was a Lebanese

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

, who served in different cabinet posts, the last of which was foreign minister of Lebanon from 2003 to 2004.

Early life

Obeid hailed from a

Maronite The Maronites ( ar, الموارنة; syr, ܡܖ̈ܘܢܝܐ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and Levant region of the Middle East, whose members traditionally belong to the Maronite Church, with the largest ...

family. He was born in

Alma Alma or ALMA may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Alma'' (film), a 2009 Spanish short animated film * ''Alma'' (Oswald de Andrade novel), 1922 * ''Alma'' (Le Clézio novel), 2017 * ''Alma'' (play), a 1996 drama by Joshua Sobol about Alma ...

, a village in the Zgharta district, on 8 May 1939.

Career

Obeid was a journalist by profession. He held several high-level positions in various newspapers and magazines. He was an advisor on Arab affairs to two former

Lebanese President 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 ...

s, Elias Sarkis (1978-1982) and

Amin Gemayel Amine Pierre Gemayel ( ar, أمين بيار الجميٌل ; (born 22 January 1942) is a Lebanese Maronite politician who served as President of Lebanon from 1982 to 1988. Born in Bikfaya, his father was Pierre Gemayel, the founder of the K ...

(1983-1987). Gemayel also appointed him special envoy to Syria. On 11 February 1987, Obeid met with Parliament Speaker

Hussein Husseini Sayyid Hussein El-Husseini ( ar, حسين الحسيني) (born 15 April 1937) is a Lebanese politician and former speaker of the Lebanese parliament, whose efforts in brokering and fathering the Taif Agreement led to the end of the Lebanese Ci ...

and was kidnapped by nine gunmen in

west 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 of ...

. Obeid was freed unhurt after four days. Obeid served as a member of the parliament, representing

Chouf Chouf (also spelled Shouf, Shuf or Chuf, in ''Jabal ash-Shouf''; french: La Montagne du Chouf) is a historic region of Lebanon, as well as an administrative district in the governorate ( muhafazat) of Mount Lebanon. Geography Located south-east ...

from 1991 to 1992 and

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in t ...

from 1992 to 2005. He served as minister of state in the cabinet led by

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Rafik Hariri in 1996. Then he was named as the minister of national education, youth and sports. On 17 April 2003, he was appointed foreign minister in a reshuffle to the last cabinet of Hariri, replacing Mahmoud Hammoud in the post. Obeid's tenure ended in 2004, and he was succeeded by Mahmoud Hammoud as foreign minister. In 2008, Obeid ran for the presidential elections and was considered to be possible consensus candidate. He was also a candidate for

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 ...

and participated in the 2014 Lebanese presidential election. In May 2018, Obeid returned to the Lebanese parliament by winning the Maronite seat for the constituency of Tripoli.

Personal life and death

Obeid was married to Emile Boustany's daughter, Loubna, and had five children Sleiman, Hala, Amal, Jana and Badwi Obeid. He was the maternal uncle of Jihad Azour a former

minister of finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

and director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department in the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster gl ...

. On the morning of 8 February 2021, the National News Agency (NNA) announced that Obeid had died due to complications from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

during the COVID-19 pandemic in Lebanon.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Obeid, Jean 1939 births 2021 deaths Candidates for President of Lebanon Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Lebanon Foreign ministers of Lebanon Lebanese journalists 20th-century Lebanese lawyers Lebanese Maronites Members of the Parliament of Lebanon People of the Lebanese Civil War People from Zgharta District Azm Movement politicians