Khatchig Babikian

Khatchig Babikian (1924–1999) aka John Babikian, was a philanthropist, attorney, a Lebanese politician of Armenian origin, and a former member of the Lebanese Parliament (1957–1999) and Lebanese government minister on many occasions as minister of Health, Tourism, Information, Planning, Foreign Affairs, and Justice.

Babikian was renowned for his multilingual proficiency, philanthropic efforts, and support for the Armenian community. The Khatchig Babikian Fund, a charitable initiative founded by his family in his honor, aims to support Armenians, particularly in Lebanon.

In 1969, during Babikian's first year as Minister of Health, he attained and distributed 1.5 million doses of the polio vaccine throughout Lebanon for all children aged under 5. Polio cases dropped from 600 nationwide in 1969 to 22 in 1970.

For his notable contribution to the French language, Babikian was awarded the Legion of Honour (officer rank) in 1986 along with one of the highest ranks of L'ordre de la Pléiade in 1998 which recognises the work and contributions to the development of the French language globally.

In 1972, Babikian pioneered social housing in Lebanon creating the country's first state funded housing in the Beirut suburb of Fanar. The project called Leylavan focused on providing housing to displaced Armenian families and was composed of 272 housing units, a school, a social and sport club, a medical dispensary and several work places.