Ghassan Tueni

Ghassan Tueni (‎; 5 January 1926 – 8 June 2012) was a Lebanese journalist, politician and diplomat who headed An Nahar, one of the Arab world's leading newspapers. Some call him "The Dean of Lebanese Journalism".

Early life Born in Beirut on 5 January 1926 to a Greek Orthodox Christian family of Syrian descent. Ghassan Tueni was the son of Gebran Tueni, the founder and publisher of the daily newspaper An Nahar. His hometown was Beit Mary.

Ghassan Tueni joined the Syrian Social Nationalist Party founded by Antoun Saadeh in the early 1940s. According to Tueni, it was Yusuf al-Khal who recruited him to join the party. While at the American University of Beirut, Tueni was the general executive head of student affairs within the SSNP and later rose to the position of assistant cultural dean of the party. In 1947, he met Antoun Saadeh for the first time in Dhour El Choueir and was blown away by Saadeh's striking charisma. While studying for his master's degree in the United States, Antoun Saadeh was in forced exile, and the two exchanged letters between 1946 and 1947. Later that year, he left the SSNP after it dismissed Yusuf al-Khal, Fayez Sayegh and others.

Tueni made a swift comeback to the SSNP after its party leader was summoned and executed in a trial that took less than twenty four hours by the Lebanese authorities in 1949. Saadeh's execution was dubbed by many as the worst kangaroo court trial in Lebanese legal history. The execution prompted Tueni to write a front-page column in the Nahar newspaper where he hailed Saadeh as a national hero forsaking his life for the national cause and condemning the execution. The article created a widespread political storm that caused much worry among the establishment, and was soon sent to prison. In 1952, Tueni was appointed by the SSNP leadership to represent the party in the Popular Socialist Front led by Kamal Jumblatt which forced the resignation of Lebanese president Bechara El Khoury.

Education

Tueni studied at the International College (IC) and then, at the American University of Beirut under Charles Malik who was influential in the development of his thoughts. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from the American University of Beirut in 1945. He then went to the United States to study at Harvard University where he received his master's degree in government.

He became a member of parliament in 1951, at age 25. He also served as Lebanon's permanent representative to the United Nations (UN) from September 1977 to September 1982, at the peak of the civil war. During his tenure at the UN, he famously addressed the Security Council on 17 March 1978 with the emotional plea: "Let my people live!". Soon, the UNSC adopted Resolution 425, calling for Israel to immediately withdraw its forces from Lebanon.

After his son Gebran Tueni's assassination, Ghassan Tueni became the candidate for his son's seat in parliament and won the election. In June 2005, he published an article in An Nahar in which he praised Abdul Halim Khaddam's, former vice president of Syria, resignation from the Baath Party. In 2008, following clashes between pro- and anti-Syrian factions in Lebanon, he, along with other PMs, signed the Doha Agreement that ceased Lebanon's worst fighting since the civil war. Tueni's tenure at the parliament lasted until 2009 and his granddaughter Nayla Tueni won the same seat from Beirut. who died in 1983 after battling cancer for several years. In 1985, his book Une Guerre Pour les Autres (A War of Others) was published. He published another book, Enterrer La Haine Et La Vengeance (Let us bury hate and revenge), in 2009, which he dedicated to his late son Gebran.

Awards 50px Grand Officier, National Order of the Cedar from Lebanon in 1984.

In addition, Tueni was awarded an honorary degree from the American University of Beirut in June 2005. In 2009, he was also the recipient of the Life Time Achievement Award of the Arab Thought Foundation. he spent the last month of his life at the American University of Beirut Medical Center, in Beirut. He was survived by his second wife, Shadia al Khazen The Order of the Cedar was placed on his coffin. He was buried at Mar Mitr Cemetery. as did King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. The other statesmen sent their condolences included François Hollande, Laurent Fabius, and Shiekh Sabah al Ahmed al Sabah.