Hamid Frangieh

Hamid Bey Frangieh
Hamid Bey Frangieh in 1948
7th Foreign Minister of Lebanon
In office 1955–1955
Prime Minister	Sami El Solh
Preceded by	Alfred Naccache
Succeeded by	Salim Lahoud
2nd Finance Minister of Lebanon
In office 3 July 1944 – 9 January 1945
Prime Minister	Riad Al Solh
Preceded by	Riad Al Solh
Succeeded by	Abdul Hamid Karami
Personal details
Born	6 August 1907
Died	5 September 1981
Political party	Independent

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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.^[1]

Hamid was born in Ehden Lebanon, the son of politician Kabalan Suleimen Frangieh^[2] and Lamia Raffoul^[3] from Ejbah Lebanon. The family had a long history of public service. Kabalan Frangieh was district governor of Ehden (1908–1913) and a member of the parliament (1929–1932). His grandfather, Suleiman Ghnatios Frangieh, was district governor of Ehden (1904–1908); and his brother Suleiman^[4] became President of Lebanon.

Hamid attended "Frères des Ecoles Chrétiennes" school in Tripoli, for his primary education, then to Aintoura for his secondary education. In 1930, he graduated in law from the Université de Saint-Joseph in Beirut.

His early career was both in the law and journalism, with Hamid becoming one of the cofounders and columnists of the Le Jour newspaper in 1933.

Frangieh was elected as a member of Parliament for the first time in 1932 aged 25. In 1937 he became the sole member of the opposition in North Lebanon to be elected. He was elected again on a further five times in 1943, 1947, 1951, 1953 and 1957 before he withdrew from political life due to illness. He was instrumental in ensuring UNESCO's first world conference was held in Beirut.

During his tenure as a member of Parliament, he also held ministerial offices, including as follows:

• Minister of Finance (July 1944 - January 1945)^[5]
• Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Education (1945 - 1949)
• Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigration, resigned 2 months later due to ill health (1941, 1955)

In 1941 he married his cousin and they had six children: Kabalan, Samir, Nabil, Marie-Claude, Zeina and Liliane.

• Hamid Frangieh on Ehden Family Tree Website
• Media related to Hamid Beik Frangieh at Wikimedia Commons