Simon Abi Ramia (; born 3 June 1965) is a Lebanese politician and ex-member of the

Strong Lebanon Strong Lebanon () is the parliamentary bloc of the Free Patriotic Movement and their allies in the Lebanese Parliament. Headed by Gebran Bassil, it consisted of 29 deputies after the 2018 general election and shrunk to 17 deputies after the 2022 ...

bloc in 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 ...

. He was close to president Michel Aoun and was affiliated with the

Free Patriotic Movement The Free Patriotic Movement (, ) is a Lebanese political party. Founded by Michel Aoun in 1994, the party is currently led by Aoun's son-in-law Gebran Bassil since 2015. History Background For many years, while Michel Aoun was and exiled i ...

. He was also the chairman of the parliamentary commission of youth and sports.

Early life and family

Simon Abi Ramia was born on 3 June 1965 in the village of

Ehmej Ehmej (; also spelled ''Ihmij'') is a municipality in the Byblos District of Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate, Lebanon. It is located 57 kilometers northeast of Beirut. Ehmej's inhabitants are predominantly Maronites, Maronite Catholics. There are two sc ...

Byblos District Byblos District (; transliteration: ''Qadaa' Jbeil''), also called the Jbeil District (''Jbeil'' is Lebanese Arabic for "Byblos"; standard Arabic ''Jubail''), is a district ('' qadaa'') of the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. It is located ...

to Farid Abi Ramia, who died in 2003, and Nour Hardan. He continued his primary and complementary studies at the schools of the Christian Brothers" and his secondary studies at the Collège Mont La Salle. He traveled to France in 1983 and received a baccalaureate in management from the

University of Paris 1 A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

and a diploma of Optometry in L'École Supérieure d'Optométrie in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Career

Abi Ramia became active after Michel Aoun's disputed tenure as prime minister in 1998. He co-founded a group of militants believing in the liberating action of General Michel Aoun, the Rassemblement pour le Liban (Rally for Lebanon) which followed the agenda of general Aoun. The Lebanese effort in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

was brought together by this gathering to bring together Lebanese organisations which are active in the different cities of France. He was elected president of this gathering in 1989. In 2005, Abi Ramia joined General Michel Aoun's return to

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 ...

. He was elected president of this gathering in 1989. In 2005, Simon Abi Ramia joined General Michel Aoun's return to Lebanon after his exile. In September 2006, he returned to Lebanon with his family after the end of the

July War The 2006 Lebanon War was a 34-day armed conflict in Lebanon, fought between Hezbollah and Israel. The war started on 12 July 2006, and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the morning on 14 August 2006, thoug ...

the same year. In 2009, he presented himself for the legislative elections of the district of Jbeil and was elected as part of the Free Patriotic Movement Bloc. He was once again elected during the legislative elections of 2018 and 2022 and took leadership of the Youth and Sports Committee in parliament. Three months after his election, he was appointed president of the parliamentary friendship group between Lebanon and France. On 8 August 2024, Abi Ramia resigned from the

citing "individualism" within the party and disagreements with its leader

Gebran Bassil Gebran Gerge Bassil (; born 21 June 1970) is a Lebanese politician who is the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement since 2015 and leader of the Strong Lebanon bloc in the Lebanese parliament since 2018. A Maronite Christian, he is the son-in-l ...

Personal life

Abi Ramia married French politician Fabienne Blineau in 1997 but are divorced since 2017. They had 3 children together; Paul, Mathieu, and Lucas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abi Ramia, Simon 21st-century Lebanese politicians Lebanese Maronites Free Patriotic Movement politicians Living people Maronite politicians 1965 births