Youssef Bey Salim Bey Karam (; April 5, 1910 – February 3, 1972) was a Lebanese member of the

Parliament of Lebanon 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 ...

Early life

Youssef was born in

Ehden Ehden (, Syriac language, Syriac-Aramaic:ܐܗܕ ܢ) is a mountainous city in the heart of the northern mountains of Lebanon and on the southwestern slopes of Mount Makmal in the Mount Lebanon, Mount Lebanon Range. Its residents are the people of Z ...

Lebanon, the son of Salim Bey Karam and Jamilee Melhem Assaad Boulos. The family had a long history of public service, his father, a District Governor (1898-1900); his grandfather Mikhael Bey is the brother of famous National Hero

Youssef Bey Karam Youssef Bey Karam (; 15 May 18237 April 1889) was a Lebanese Maronite notable for fighting in the 1860 civil conflict and leading a rebellion in 1866–1867 against Ottoman rule in Mount Lebanon. His proclamations have been interpreted as ...

; his uncle Assaad Bey a District Governor (1874-1887). He was educated at the

Collège Stanislas de Paris The Collège Stanislas de Paris (), colloquially known as Stan, is a private Catholic school in Paris, situated on " Rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs" in the 6th arrondissement. It has more than 3,000 students, from preschool to '' classes préparatoir ...

Political career

Youssef Salim Karam was elected as a Member of Parliament for the first time in 1943 following the death of MP Wahib Geagea from the town of

Bsharri Bsharri ( ''Bšarrī''; also romanized ''Becharre'', ''Bcharre'', ''Bsharre'', ''Bcharre Al Arz'') is a Lebanese town located in the district of the same name, North Governorate, situated at altitudes between and . Bsharri is the location o ...

, winning the

North Lebanon Governorate North Governorate (, ') is one of the governorates of Lebanon and one of the two governorates of North Lebanon. Its capital is Tripoli. Ramzi Nohra has been its governor since May 2, 2014. The population of North Governorate is 731,251. Distri ...

seat ahead of Hasib Geagea, brother of the deceased MP. He was subsequently elected for three successive terms in 1943, 1947 and 1951. During the General Elections of 1947, Youssef Salim Karam was re-elected for a second time for the

seat along with his running partner

Hamid Frangieh Hamid Frangieh (6 August 1907 – 5 September 1981) was a Lebanese member of the Parliament of Lebanon and held numerous ministerial positions in the Lebanese government. He was one of the Maronite leaders of Lebanon. Early life Hamid was b ...

. Karam was elected for the third time in a row in 1951, making a strong showing by winning, along with his running partners, 5 out of the 6

seats. Karam's list included

Philippe Najib Boulos Philippe Najib Boulos (; 1902–1979) was a lawyer and an active figure of Lebanon's politics in the 20th century. He worked as a lawyer and involved in Politics of Lebanon, Lebanon's politics from 1941 until his death. During that period, he wa ...

from the

Koura District Koura District (, from ) is a district in the North Governorate, Lebanon. Koura is one of the 26 districts of Lebanon, particularly known for its olive tree cultivation and olive oil production. It comprises a total of 52 villages, and its ca ...

, Camille Akl (

Batroun Batroun ( ';, ancient Botrys (), is a coastal city in northern Lebanon and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It is the capital city of Batroun District. The main Political Party of this city is the Free patriotic ...

), Kabalan Issa el-Khoury (

), Antoine Estephan (

), and Fouad Douaihy (

Zgharta Zgharta (, ), also spelled Zghorta, is a city in North Lebanon, with an estimated population of around 50,000. It is the second biggest city in Northern Lebanon after Tripoli, Lebanon, Tripoli. Zgharta is officially the Zgharta-Ehden municipality ...

). The latter lost the seat to

who was running the opposing list along with

René Moawad René Anis Moawad (; 17 April 1925 – 22 November 1989) was a Lebanese politician who served as the 9th president of Lebanon for seventeen days, from 5 to 22 November 1989, before his assassination by unknown assailants. Early life and educatio ...

(

), Nadra Issa el-Khoury (

), Habib Kairouz (

), Nicolas Ghosn (

), and Youssef Daou (

). Youssef Salim Karam lost his seat in Zgharta-Zawyieh to

during the General Elections of 1953, both running in that election as independent candidates. Karam lost again during the General elections of 1957 to the opposing list in Zgharta-Zawyieh (

and

) along with his running partner, Father Semaan Douaihy. However, Karam ran for the elections for the sixth time in a row in 1960, and was re-elected for the seat of Zgharta-Zawyieh with his running partners

Suleiman Frangieh Suleiman Kabalan Frangieh (15 June 1910 – 23 July 1992) was a Lebanese politician who served as the 5th president of Lebanon from 1970 to 1976. Early life and education Suleiman Frangieh was a scion of one of the leading Maronites, Maronite f ...

,President Sleiman Frangieh on Ehden Family Tree website
/ref> who was back from Syria after he was granted amnesty following his involvement in the

Miziara Miziara (known also as Meziara, Arabic: ) is a town located in the Zgharta District in the North Governorate of Lebanon. The village is home to Our Lady of Miziara, Mother of Mercies, St Elias Shrines and Hotel Miziara, the village's first hotel. ...

massacre, and

. In 1964, Karam ran one last time for the elections as an independent candidate and lost against

and Father Semaan Douaihy. During that time, Youssef Salim Karam was developing

arteriosclerosis Arteriosclerosis, literally meaning "hardening of the arteries", is an umbrella term for a vascular disorder characterized by abnormal thickening, hardening, and loss of elasticity of the walls of arteries; this process gradually restricts th ...

symptoms, and was officially diagnosed with it a year later. Following his diagnosis with the

disease at the age of 55 that left him with a severe physical weakness, Karam's political career ended. His eldest son, Assaad, succeeded him and ran for the elections of 1968 and 1972 as an independent candidate. After the latter's step-down, Karam's second son,

Salim Salim, Saleem or Selim may refer to: People *Salim (name), or Saleem or Salem or Selim, a name of Arabic origin **Salim (poet) (1800–1866), Kurdish poet **Saleem (playwright), Palestinian-American gay Muslim playwright, actor, DJ, and dancer * ...

, took over and ran for the elections in 1996, 2000, 2005, 2009 (in which he won), and 2018. The only time since 1943 that none of Karam family members ran for the elections was during the Parliamentary Elections of 1992.

Miziara massacre

On 16 June 1957, some of Karam's men went to see him in his home in

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis (from , meaning "three cities") may refer to: Places Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in the Pelasgiotis district, Thessaly, near Larissa ...

, informing him that a requiem mass was being held in

, a village located in the south of

, for the repose of the soul of Salim el Abed who has died in

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. They asked him if he wanted them to accompany him. However, Karam did not want to attend the mass. He allegedly said to his men : "I will not attend the requiem mass that is being held today, but out of respect for the people of

, I shall go to

tomorrow with two or three of you to pay my respect to the deceased man." Karam's men reacted to him wanting to be accompanied only by three men, but he insisted that the deceased man, Salim el Abed, used to back financially his political opponents; therefore, not having something that really links him to the deceased man other than respect, there is no use, according to Karam, to have a delegation in order to pay this visit. Youssef Karam is known for taking firm decisions, and no one dared to defy him or question his decisions, so he eventually ended up not going to

that day even though his men thought that it was better for him to go. That same day, during the requiem mass that Karam decided not to attend, the

massacre took place between the Frangieh and Douaihy clans. The Douaihy family clan was then led by Father Semaan Douaihy, who was the running partner of Youssef Karam in the elections that was going to take place at the end of June 1957, a few weeks after the massacre. The same men who wanted Karam to attend the mass still recall how he firmly refused to go and they believe that his decision was instinctual.

Personal life

In 1939, he married Mariette Tarabay, daughter of Fouad Mikhael Bey Tarabay from

, and they had four children together: Maxime, Nayla, Assaad, and

External links

Youssef Bey Salim Karam on Ehden Family Tree Website

References