Kazem El-Solh (1904 – 25 December 1976) was a Lebanese politician, a diplomat and the founder of a political party and a newspaper. He was a member of parliament in Lebanon and served as the country's ambassador to Iraq.
Early life and education
He hails from a prominent
Sunni Muslim
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Musli ...
family which gave Lebanon four prime ministers, his brother
Takieddine Solh
Takieddin el-Solh (also Takieddin Solh, Takieddin as-Solh; ) (1908 – 27 November 1988) was a Lebanese politician who served as the Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1973 to 1974, and again briefly in 1980.
El-Solh was born in Sidon, Lebanon. ...
, as well as
Riad Solh
Riad Al Solh (; 17 August 1894 – 17 July 1951) was a Lebanese politician and statesman who served as the first and fifth prime minister of Lebanon from 1943 to 1945 and from 1946 to 1951, respectively.[Sami Solh
Sami (El) Solh (; 1887–1968) was a Lebanese Sunni Muslim politician. He was a relative of former Lebanese prime ministers Riad Solh, Takieddine Solh and Rachid Solh. He served as Prime Minister of Lebanon five times (1942–43, 1945–46, 1 ...]
and
Rachid Solh
Rachid Solh (; 22 June 1926 – 27 June 2014) was a Lebanese politician and former Prime Minister, kin of one of the most eminent Sunni Muslim families in the country several of whose members became prime ministers, and that was originally fro ...
. The Solh family is originally from the ancient port city of
Sidon
Sidon ( ) or better known as Saida ( ; ) is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast in the South Governorate, Lebanon, South Governorate, of which it is the capital. Tyre, Lebanon, Tyre, t ...
in southern Lebanon. Kazem El-Solh was born in 1904 in Beirut. He attended the
International College, Beirut
International College () is an independent non-profit international school in Beirut, Lebanon. Its students come from all over Lebanon, as well as the Middle-East and around the world. With two campuses, one in the Lebanese capital Beirut and the ...
, then studied at the Jesuit School, also in Beirut, before graduating with a law degree from the University of Damascus.
Career
Kazem El-Solh served as Lebanese Ambassador in Baghdad from 1947 to 1960, leaving Iraq a year after the coup ousting the Hashemite monarchy in the country. In 1960-1964, he was a member of the
Lebanese Parliament
The Lebanese Parliament (, ) is the unicameral national parliament of the Lebanon, Republic of Lebanon. There are 128 members elected to a four-year term in Electoral district, multi-member constituencies, apportioned among Lebanon's divers ...
, representing the eastern region of
Zahle. He was also the head of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee.
Prior to that, Kazem El-Solh was a staunch activist for Arab nationalism and the region's independence from foreign powers. He also established the Arab Nationalist Party in 1935.
In 1936, El-Solh wrote a paper during the Coastal Conference, published later, and which was the precursor to Lebanon's
National Pact
The National Pact () is an unwritten agreement that laid the foundation of Lebanon as a multiconfessional state following negotiations between the Shia, Sunni, Maronite, and Druze leaderships. Enacted in the summer of 1943, the National Pact wa ...
, promoting Lebanese coexistence. His paper is generally considered as one of the foundations of the Lebanese Constitution and its citizen's charter.
In 1943-1947, he set up a law practice in downtown Beirut and in 1944-1960 he formed a political party called Al Nida, together with other intellectuals and his brother Takieddin el-Solh, who later became prime minister.
''Al Nida''
In 1930, he was the founding owner of the daily newspaper ''
Al Nida'' (The Appeal) in Beirut, to which his brothers contributed articles.
The paper ceased being published in 1940.
Personal life and death
In 1934, he married his first cousin Yesser Kamel El-Solh. They had four children: Hannah, Khaldoun, Nawal and
Raghid El-Solh. He died on December 25, 1976.
References
External links
''L'Orient Le Jour'' Beirut, Lebanon, April 18, 2008.
''Lebanon and Arabism'' By Raghid el-Solh, I.B. Tauris Publishers, 2004, page 147.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Solh, Kazem
1904 births
1976 deaths
Members of the Parliament of Lebanon
Lebanese Muslims
Lebanese journalists
Lebanese newspaper publishers (people)
Lebanese newspaper founders
Liberalism in Lebanon
Damascus University alumni
20th-century Lebanese journalists
Ambassadors of Lebanon to Iraq
Al Solh family