Lebanese of the Century

Lebanon & the Middle East

 

Adnan Kassar  

President of the International Chamber of Commerce

Adnan Kassar, president of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Beirut and Mount Lebanon, is also well-known for his influence in international business affairs. He served as president of the General Union of Arab Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture and is now its permanent vice president, as well as president of the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

 

 

Issam Fares

Entrepreneur, philanthropist and politician

Issam Fares heads a conglomerate of banks, factories and other diverse enterprises located in the Middle East, Europe, and the United States. Though Fares is perhaps best known as a corporate empire-builder, he is also known for his philanthropic work.  

 

Fares was born in Tripoli, Lebanon in 1938.  In the late 1970s, he made the first acquisition in his portfolio of businesses, Ballast Nedam Group N.V., a construction company headquartered in The Netherlands. By 1984, Fares’ international mix of holdings employed more than 70,000 people and took in combined revenues of more than $4 billion per year.  

 

 

 

The Abela Group  

Entrepreneurs

If you’ve ever eaten a meal on an airplane or in a hotel, bought a quick lunch from a supermarket, or attended a catered affair, you’ve probably been served by the Abela Group.

 

Albert, Edwin and Joe Abela built their catering business from modest beginnings in Lebanon, fifty years ago. Today, the Albert Abela Corporation is a vast international concern, serving airlines, schools and universities, workplaces and other locations where people gather and expect a meal. The corporation employs 35,000 people in 40 countries and earns more than $1 billion in yearly revenues.

 

 

 

Rafik Hariri

Business leader and politician

A successful businessman who turned his considerable energies to politics and philanthropy, Rafik Hariri is known in Lebanon today for his contributions to the rebuilding of Lebanon and for his active promotion of Lebanon in the global economy.

 

Rafik Hariri was born in Sidon, Lebanon in 1944. He attended the College of Sidon and studied commerce at the Arabic University of Beirut. Early in his career, Hariri emigrated to Saudi Arabia. There, in 1978, he founded Saudi Oger, a construction company which soon became Oger International.  

 

 

Ali Ahmad

Entrepreneur

More than fifty years ago, Ahmad Ali Ahmad started mining diamonds in Sierra Leone and Zaire. Today, his son Ali Ahmad has expanded the family’s entrepreneurial activities to cover not only diamond mining and trade, but also a variety of ventures both in Lebanon and abroad, including investment, real estate development, trade activities, contracting, and engineering.

 

Ali Ahmad was born in 1963 in Sierra Leone. After studying business management at the American University of Beirut, Ahmad worked at the Triple A Diamonds that his father established in 1977 in Belgium. Ahmad diversified his business ventures over the years, moving into real estate development in 1993, when he launched his first in a series of companies in Lebanon, Triple A Team. 

 

 

 

Sabah

Singer

Sabah is one of Lebanon’s best-known lyrical artists, with more than 100 of her songs enjoyed as popular favorites both in Lebanon and throughout the Arab world. But Sabah’s fame is not confined to the Middle East; she has also performed in Europe and the United States.

 

Born Jeannette Feghali in Wadi Chahrour, Lebanon, Sabah lived in Egypt for a number of years, where she starred in more than 40 films, including “How to Forget Him” and “Song of My Love.” 

 

 

 

Fairouz 

Singer

Fairouz, known as Lebanon’s “ambassadrice auprès des étoiles”, has been the country’s most famous lyrical artist for more than 40 years. Her stage performances in Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, London, Amman, Kuwait City, Paris and New York, among other cities, have drawn audiences numbering in the thousands. Leaders and heads of state of nearly every Arab country have attended her concerts.

 

Fairouz was born Nohad Haddad in 1933 in Beirut. She began her musical career as a Lebanese Radio Station chorus member. In 1950, Fairouz first captured public attention with a hit song, "Itab," written by Halim El-Roumi. El-Roumi introduced her to brothers and composers Assi and Mansour Rahbani. This introduction was the beginning of a long and successful collaboration between Fairouz and the Rahbanis, who wrote more than 300 songs for her, nearly all of them becoming hits. 

 

 

Assi and Mansour Rahbani 

Composers

It would be difficult to measure the influence that the Rahbani brothers have had on Arab culture over the last 50 years. Their music and their poems are cherished in the hearts of millions of Arabs throughout the world.

 

The Rahbanis wrote more than 300 songs for Fairouz, nearly all becoming big hits, as well as a number of plays and films that became classics. During the 1970s, the Rahbani brothers were asked by the Middle East Bureau of the U.S. State Department to translate their works for a Broadway production, but the brothers rejected the offer.  

 

 

 

Wadih El-Safi 

Musician

Wadih El-Safi, a vocalist whose songs have been widely enjoyed for more than 60 years, is known for his mastery of the oud, the ancient Arab lute, and as a champion of pure Lebanese folk music. 

 

El-Safi was born Jean Francis in 1921 in Niha, Lebanon. He first studied the oud under the supervision of the well-known oudist Alexi Al-Ladkani. By the age of 17, he was acknowledged for his virtuosity not only in the art of the oud, but also in the singing and composition of traditional tarab music. 

 

 

 

Abdel Halim Caracalla

Performer and Choreographer

Abdel Halim Caracalla has brought international recognition to Oriental folk dancing by fusing western dance disciplines with Oriental colors, movement and music. The Caracalla Dance Company, comprising more than 40 performers, travels all over the world, delighting audiences and serving as an ambassador for Lebanese culture. 

 

Caracalla was born in Baalbeck, Lebanon in 1938, and received a baccalaureate certificate in philosophy in Zahlé.  Caracalla moved to Dijon, France, where he studied international folklore.  Once back in Lebanon, he worked for six years as the choreographer for the Lebanese folklore troupe at the Baalbeck Festival. 

 

 

 

Georgina Rizk 

Miss Universe 1971

Georgina Rizk holds the distinction of being the only Lebanese woman ever to claim a title in an international beauty pageant. 

 

Rizk, who began her career as a model, won the Miss Télévision competition in 1970, going on to win first place in the 1971 Miss Lebanon pageant. As Miss Lebanon, Rizk traveled to the United States, where she modeled in a Houston fashion show and took part in the Miss Universe Pageant. There, to the surprise of the world media, Rizk was crowned Miss Universe.

 

 

 

Elie Saab

Fashion designer

For years, Elie Saab dressed the most sophisticated women in the Middle East. Today, his career is taking off, as women in other parts of the world – including Hollywood stars – discover how beautiful his designs make them look. 

 

In recognition of his abilities, Elie Saab was admitted in 1997 to La Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana as its first non-Italian designer member. Since then, Saab has been presenting his fashion shows in Italy, as part of the Italian Haute Couture Fashion Week held under the auspices of the International Chamber of Italian Fashion.

 

 

Mona El-Solh

Princess and Patriot

Princess Mona El-Solh is a unique Lebanese figure, known for several roles she has played in Arab society.  Some know her as the princess who married Prince Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, brother of King Fahd Bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia.  Others know her as the daughter of Riad El-Solh, the Lebanese prime minister who was much loved and highly respected not only in Lebanon, but throughout the Arab world.  Still others know her as the mother of Prince Alwaleed, one of the world’s richest people.

 

Princess Mona herself  inherited her father’s love for Lebanon, which she passed on to her children. Her son,  Prince Alwaleed, has on many occasions been the first to extend help to the country of his mother’s birth.

 

 

Antoun Saadeh 

Political Activist 

Antoun Saadeh was the founder of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP), and the author of many books and treatises on social, philosophical, political and literary subjects.  He founded a number of newspapers in Lebanon and abroad, and worked for the liberation of Lebanon from French rule, eventually losing his life for the cause of independence. 

 

In 1924, Saadeh formed a secret society in Brazil to work for the liberation of Lebanon from the French mandate.  He returned to Lebanon in 1930, and wrote two stories, “Faji’at Hubb” (“A Love Tragedy”) and “Eid Sayyedat Saydnaya,” (“The Feast of the Saydnaya Madonna”) which were printed together in a single volume in Beirut in 1931. 

 

 

Georges Frem

Entrepreneur 

From the establishment of his first business 47 years ago, Georges Frem has built a multinational industrial business empire. Frem today is the director of Indevco, a group of companies which includes familiar names such as Unipak, General Supplying Agencies (GESPA), and Masterpack. Besides his business activities, Frem has also served the Lebanese government in several ministerial capacities.

 

Born in 1934 in Haret-Sakhr, Lebanon, Frem received his early education at the Apostles College in Jounieh.  He later studied accounting and management by correspondence with Harvard University. 

 

Frem established his Industrial and Development Co. (Indevco) in 1953. Today, Indevco and its 36 manufacturing and commercial companies employ over 5000 people in Brazil, Cyprus, Egypt, Britain, Greece, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and the U.S.  Indevco's success has grown from its strong corporate culture, which Frem has carefully built from the company’s inception.

 

 

Charles Malik

Diplomat and Educator  

Charles Malik spent many years representing Lebanon abroad. Malik was Lebanon’s ambassador to the U.S. from 1945 until 1955, and also took various leadership roles at the United Nations from 1948 through 1959. 

 

Malik’s long career was an interweaving of public service and academic leadership. Following his ambassadorship to the U.S., Malik was appointed as both dean of graduate studies and as head of the philosophy department at AUB, and held both these positions from 1955 to 1958. 

 

 

 

Camille Chamoun

Politician

Camille Chamoun, who became President of the Lebanese Republic in 1952, is remembered today as one of Lebanon’s most charismatic politicians, a man who struggled ceaselessly for Lebanon’s independence. 

 

Between 1934 and 1972, Chamoun was elected parliament deputy eight times. He lost only a single political campaign, in 1964. Chamoun was appointed minister six times, serving in the Ministries of Finance, Labor, Public Health, and the Interior. 

 

 

 

The Gemayel Family

Lebanese political dynasty

Prominent since the days of the Ottoman Empire, the Gemayel family shifted from their traditional role as sheikhs of Bikfaya to their modern-day standing as prime political movers in the independent republic of Lebanon.  

 

Gemayel began his political career by fighting for Lebanon’s independence from France.  He founded the Kataeb Party in 1936 to campaign against French rule and against the absorption of Lebanon into Syria. Once Lebanon became independent, the Kataeb Party became an active political force in the new nation. In 1938, Pierre Gemayel was elected president of the Kataeb Party, which had 300 members at the time.  By 1943, the Party had 35,000 members. 

 

 

 

Bechara El-Khoury

Politician

Bechara El-Khoury was one of the most important leaders of the young Republic of Lebanon. He founded and served as president of the Constitutional Bloc, which demanded the complete and unconditional independence of Lebanon. 

 

Khoury was born in 1890 in Lebanon.  In 1911, after studying law in Paris, Khoury returned to Lebanon and entered public life. In 1920, he was appointed secretary general of Mount Lebanon and in 1926, he became minister of the interior. 

 

 

 

Kamal Joumblatt 

Politician and Philosopher 

Kamal Joumblatt was an adamant defender of intellectual and political freedom, a politician who served in many different government capacities. The author of more than 1200 editorial articles in both Arabic and French and a popular public speaker, he had a powerful influence in the marketplace of ideas. Joumblatt also exerted influence through his political, philosophical and literary works; 25 of his books and manuscripts have been published so far, while many remain as yet unpublished. 

 

In 1943, Joumblatt began his political life and was elected deputy in the Parliament representing Mount Lebanon. During that period, he was an opponent of the reigning Constitutional Bloc Party headed by then-president Bechara El-Khoury.

 

 

Riad El-Solh

Politician

Riad El-Solh was known for his flexible and conciliatory spirit.  Solh played a major role in the withdrawal of foreign forces from Lebanon and the establishment of Lebanon’s full independence, as well as brokering the inclusion of Lebanon in both the League of Arab States and the United Nations. 

 

Solh was born in Sidon, Lebanon in 1894. He was educated at the Jesuit School, and later studied law at the University of Istanbul in Turkey and at Beirut’s Saint Joseph University.  From his early youth, Solh was politically active, joining several secret Arab nationalist groups.  In 1920, the people of Sidon proclaimed Solh, who was only 26 years old, as their spokesman. He represented the people of Sidon at conferences and worked to advance the city’s interests.

 

 

Emile Bustani

Entrepreneur

Emile Bustani is known for his leadership of the Contracting and Trading Company (C.A.T.), for many years the foremost Arab-owned business operating in the Middle East. Founded in 1938, C.A.T. grew quickly from undertaking small contracting jobs in British-occupied Palestine to employing 15,000 people throughout the entire region. 

 

Bustani’s entrepreneurial career began when, after working for two years as an engineer at the Iraq Petroleum Company in Palestine, he established C.A.T. to undertake building contracts. In 1941, Bustani took in partners Abdalla Khoury and Shukri Shammas. 

 

Fouad Makhzoumi

Entrepreneur

Starting with a modest business he founded just 24 years ago, Fouad Makhzoumi has built an international empire of successful companies. 

 

Makhzoumi was born in Lebanon, where he received his early education.  He earned an undergraduate and a Master's degree in chemical engineering from the Michigan Technological University in the USA. 

 

Makhzoumi began his business career in 1975 by establishing the Future Pipe Company in Saudi Arabia. Makhzoumi moved quickly to establish the company's credibility in technical expertise through a strategy of acquisition, combining all companies under Future Management Holdings Group, which is today a large private industrial group.

 

Emir Majid Arslan

Politician

Though Emir Majid Arslan was born into a noble family, he learned from an early age that love for country should be shown in concern for every Lebanese person, irrespective of religion or social class. Throughout his career of public service, Arslan was known for helping anyone who needed his aid. In particular, Arslan was known for helping Lebanon’s orphans. He is remembered today as a true democrat, a popular politician, and a patriot who fought against religious discrimination, calling for national unity and the putting aside of individual differences to benefit the development of Lebanon. 

 

 

Arslan became interested in politics while still a very young man. In 1932, he was elected to his first office, that of deputy to the Lebanese Parliament, representing Mount Lebanon. From then on, Arslan won every parliamentary election, continuing to serve as a deputy until 1980.

 

 

Laure Moghaizel

Attorney and Human Rights activist

Laure Moghaizel was one of Lebanon’s most eloquent human rights advocates. Employing her considerable legal skills, she was a tireless proponent of women’s rights and justice for all.

Born in 1929 in Hasbaya, Lebanon, Moghaizel attended Beirut’s Saint Joseph University where she earned a license in Lebanese law. She also earned her license in French law at Lyon University in France. 

Moghaizel did not limit her activism to the national level; she was also active in regional and international issues. She was a promoter and member of the Committee for Political Rights of Lebanese Women, the Committee for Equality in Inheritance, the Committee for Amendment of the Criminal Code Law, the UNESCO National Committee, the Lebanese Family Planning Association, and the National Committee for Women’s Affairs.

 

 

Europe

 

Robert Mouawad 

Jeweler

Robert Mouawad is well-known in the world of jewelry, antiques, and precious stones. Even the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), the top institute for gemological studies in the world, has named the main campus of its new world headquarters in Carlsbad, California, after Robert Mouawad.  

 

At a 1990 Sotheby’s auction in Geneva, Robert Mouawad successfully bid $13 million for a diamond that was almost the same size as the famous Koh-i-noor stone that is part of the English crown jewels. This is only one of his acquisitions of many well-known diamonds. 

 

The Mouawad family association with jewelry goes back four generations. The family business was founded in 1890 in Beirut by David Mouawad, who was a master watchmaker. David’s son Fayez, initiated several innovations in the family business which have become synonymous with the Mouawad of today. 

 

Abdel Rahman El-Bacha 

Musician

From the Mozarteum in Salzburg to the Théatre des Champs Elysées in Paris, from the Berlin Philharmonic to the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Abdel Rahman El-Bacha travels from his home in Paris to play the piano all over Europe, Japan, the Middle East and the United States. His performances are heralded by the press as major musical events.

 

El-Bacha won the prestigious Queen Elizabeth of Belgium Competition in June 1978, at the age of nineteen. He was also voted the audience’s favorite among the contestants. The Queen Elizabeth prize launched him onto the international scene.

 

 

Walid Akl

Musician

Walid Akl is remembered all over the world for his playing of "the piano that sings under his fingers." During his long career as a performer, Akl played in cities all over Europe and North America.

 

Akl was born in Mehaytzeh, Lebanon in 1945. He completed his musical studies in Paris at the Marguerite Long Academy, the Superior National Conservatory and the Normal School of Music. After finishing his studies in 1969, Akl traveled extensively, dazzling audiences in European cities such as Paris, London, Brussels, Manheim, Weisbaden, Fribourg, Lausanne, Geneva and Madrid. He also toured the United States, Canada and Mexico. 

 

Gabriel Yared

Oscar winning Composer

Gabriel Yared, one of today’s greatest composers, is best known for his award winning music in The English Patient and in the French movie L’Amant.  A self-taught musician, Yared acquired little studies in music in the beginning. It wasn’t until he turned 30 that Yared actually began studying music.  

 

Yared was born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1949.  While attending law school at Saint Joseph University in Beirut, Yared would escape from his studies to play the organ for hours on end at Saint Joseph Church across the street.  

 

 

Maroun Baghdadi  

Filmmaker

Maroun Baghdadi is arguably Lebanon’s most prominent filmmaker, one whose work has been seen all over the world. One of his best-known films, “Houroub Saghira” (“Little Wars”), was shown at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival, drawing this comment from a prominent film critic: “To make a film about Beirut that eschews polemics for more universal, more human issues is an achievement. To do it with such skill and conviction makes Baghdadi an important film maker of his time and place.” 

 

Baghdadi was a prolific filmmaker who not only directed 19 films, but also wrote several of them. He worked with a number of well-known actors, including Beatrice Dalle, James Fox and Michel Picolli. His first Lebanese production was for television, an educational program called “7 1/2.”  In 1975, he directed his first feature film, “Beyrouth Ya Beyrouth”. “Koullouna Lil Watan,” a 75-minute documentary produced in 1979, won the Jury Honor Prize at the International Leipzig Festival Documentary and Animated Film.

 

 

 

 

Nicolas Hayek

Engineer and Entrepreneur

Nicolas Hayek, a businessman whose commercial interests range from engineering to marketing, is well known for having developed strategies that led to the revival of the entire Swiss watch industry. 

 

Born in 1928, Hayek is the founder, chairman and CEO of Hayek Engineering Inc. The company, founded in 1963, and based in Zurich, Switzerland, employs over 250 people. 

 

 

Amin Maalouf 

Writer

Lebanese writer Amin Maalouf was honored in 1993 with the most prestigious literary prize in France, the Prix Goncour, awarded for his novel “Le Rocher de Tanios.” Maalouf was described by the French press as “the great artisan of the legend” who “belongs to a creed of writers who restore and invent worlds in the color of their dreams.”

 

Amin Maalouf was born in 1949 in Lebanon.  After graduating in politics and sociology from Saint Joseph University in Beirut, Maalouf worked in journalism at the Beirut daily newspaper An-Nahar. In 1976, as the situation in Lebanon deteriorated, Maalouf, his wife Andrée, and their children emigrated to France, where they still live. 

 

 

 

Bechara El-Khoury

Poet and Musician

Bechara El-Khoury is one of Lebanon’s leading artists, with a prodigious body of work that includes musical compositions, poetry and a career in concert performance.

Khoury was born in Beirut in March 1957.  His talents in music and poetry were evident very early on, but it was only in 1969 that he began his studies in piano and music theory under his teacher Agop Arslanian. From 1969, Khoury began composing music, and through 1978, produced about 100 works for various ensembles and venues -- orchestra, chorus, piano, chamber-music and theater music. During these years, Khoury also began his career as a concert pianist, as well as conducting and writing articles about music. 

 

 

George Schehadé

Poet

Known as a poet, and honored as the first laureate of the Grand Prix de la Francophonie by the French Academy in 1986, George Schehadé has also, during his long career, turned his poetic touch to playwriting and screenwriting.

 

Born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1905 of Lebanese parents Elias Schehadé and Liza Chikhani, Schehadé left Egypt with his family around 1920 and returned to Lebanon. Schehadé finished his studies in commerce at the Sacré-Cœur College in Beirut and later earned a degree in law. From childhood, however, Schehadé exhibited a strong interest in writing, and composed a number of poems and short plays.  

 

In 1928, Schehadé published his first collection of poems, “Etincelles,” in Paris, and began composing the poems that were later published in “L’Ecolier Sultan”.  In 1929, he wrote “Rodogune Sinne” during a summer vacation in the village of Bikfaya, Lebanon.  A few years later, he wrote the plays “Chagrin d’amour” and “Mr. Bob'le.”

 

Mouna Ayoub 

Jewelry and haute couture collector

In the fashion and jewelry worlds, Mouna Ayoub is a name that conjures admiration. In 18 years Mouna has amassed one of the largest collections of contemporary dresses in the world. Mouna has also set a record for selling one of the largest yellow diamonds in the world, and owns one of the most impressive sailing ships ever built.

 

Born in Beirut, Mouna studied business administration in Paris while she was a teenager. While there, she met and fell in love with Saudi billionaire Nasser Al-Rashid. When she was 19, the couple married and eventually had five children. Mouna and Al-Rashid divorced in 1996 after 18 years of marriage. Using her divorce settlement, She decided to start her own business. She bid on the Phocea, a massive 74-meter sailing ship, that is reputedly one of the fastest boats in the world. She purchased the vessel for $5 million and then spent $20 million remodeling and refurbishing it. 

 

 

 

Australia

 

 

David Malouf   

Writer

David Malouf first attracted attention as a poet, but he has since become better known as a novelist. In his literary work, Malouf often juxtaposes contrasting lifestyles and values, past and present, permanence and change, drawing on his experience of living on two continents. 

 

Malouf was born in 1934 in Brisbane, Australia, of Lebanese father and English mother. He was educated at Queensland University, but has since then spent most of his time in Britain and Italy. Malouf returned to Australia in 1968 to lecture in English at Sydney University, but in 1977, settled in Italy, where he now works full time at his writing. He visits Australia for a few months each year.

 

 

United States

 

 

 

Paul Orfalea

Entrepreneur

In September 1970, Paul Orfalea, just out of college, borrowed enough money to open a small photocopy shop. Today, Orfalea is chairperson of Kinko’s, Inc., a chain of 24-hour copy and printing stores with more than 1000 branches in the United States, Canada, Britain, the Netherlands, Japan, South Korea, China, Australia and the United Arab Emirates. 

 

Orfalea founded Kinko’s Copy Centers with a simple idea: to provide college students with products and services they needed at a competitive price.  Orfalea’s first store in Isla Vista, the beachside town where the University of California at Santa Barbara is located, was so small that the store’s one copy machine had to be wheeled out onto the sidewalk to be used. 

 

 

Bobby Rahal

Winner of the Indy 500 race

Bobby Rahal is a man who has lived his life in the fast lane--the REALLY fast lane. One of the most accomplished auto-racers of the last thirty years, Rahal's life is a road to riches story.  

When he was seventeen years old, Rahal's father helped him enter his first auto race by convincing racing officials that Bobby was eighteen years old, when in fact he was seventeen. His father also loaned him his car to drive in the race. 

 

 

George Mitchell

Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader 

Although George Mitchell is of Lebanese descent, he also has the luck of the Irish on his side. In 1998, former U.S Senator Mitchell was the key orchestrator in helping war-torn Northern Ireland reach a peace agreement after years of religious hostilities between the Catholics and Protestants. 

The former Maine Senator attended the series of conferences for 22 months, serving as a mediator between the main participants.  On May 22, the meetings--which had gone on for nearly two years--came to fruition when The Good Friday Accord was passed. This act said that Catholics and Protestants would share political power, which had been in constant flux for decades. Mitchell's role in the conferences made the Senator an international celebrity, and Irish citizens proclaimed him their hero.

 

 

Joseph Abboud

Fashion designer

Joseph Abboud holds the distinction of being the only fashion designer ever to have been awarded the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s much-coveted Menswear Design of the Year award for two consecutive years.  

After studying comparative literature at the University of Massachusetts, Abboud attended the Sorbonne in Paris, where he grew to love the sophisticated polish of European style and design. On his return to the U.S., Abboud joined the prestigious retail store Louis of Boston in 1968 where, over the course of twelve years, he served as a buyer, a merchandiser, and finally progressed to coordinator of promotion and advertising. Abboud’s own vision of men’s fashion was also honed at Polo/Ralph Lauren, where he spent three years as director of menswear design.  

In 1986, Abboud launched his signature menswear collection. 

 

 

Joseph Haggar

Entrepreneur

When Joseph Maroun Haggar, known as J.M. Haggar, founded the Haggar Clothing Company, little did he know that one day his business would become a multimillion dollar enterprise and one of the largest clothing companies in the U.S.

J.M. Haggar was born in Jezzeen, Lebanon.  In 1906, at the age of 13, Haggar emigrated from Lebanon to Mexico, later settling in Texas.  In 1926, he founded the Haggar Clothing Co. in  Dallas.  

Today, Haggar markets clothing throughout the U.S., the United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, South Africa, Turkey, Japan, and Indonesia. The company’s 1999 net sales exceeded $500 million.

 

 

Michael DeBakey

Heart Surgeon

Michael E. DeBakey, M.D., is chancellor emeritus of Baylor College of Medicine and director of the DeBakey Heart Center, a joint venture of Baylor and The Methodist Hospital.  DeBakey's surgical career has earned him world renown as a surgeon, innovator, medical educator, and international medical statesman. 

 

DeBakey’s fame stems largely from his innovations in treating cardiovascular conditions. He was the first to do successful excision and grafting of arterial lesions.  A pioneer in the development of the artificial heart, he was the first to use a heart pump successfully in a patient. DeBakey has also developed more than 70 surgical instruments. While still a medical student, he devised a pump that years later became one of the essential components of the heart-lung machine that made open-heart surgery possible.   He also conceived the idea of lining a bypass pump and its connections with Dacron velour. 

 

 

 

Najeeb Halaby 

former head of the U.S. Federal Aeronautics Authority

In his lifetime, Najeeb Halaby has watched his daughter become a Queen and has enjoyed a career in aviation-management that is literally sky-high.

Long before his daughter Lisa married Jordan's King Hussein in the 1978s, Halaby was already a familiar figure worldwide for his successes in business and politics. 

Halaby worked in the United States Department of Defense in the 1950s and was promoted to head the Federal Aeronautics Authority in the early '60s. Halaby's brilliance in aeronautics and marketing soon led him to Pan American Airways, a popular airline company that was the first to use the 747 jet. He reigned as CEO of the company for many years. 

 

 

Jacques Nasser 

President and CEO of Ford Motor Company

The story of Jacques Nasser's success is quite simple. He worked his way to the top the old-fashioned way--dedication, skill and perseverance. Now the president of Ford Motor Company, Nasser's long climb has paid off handsomely.

Born in Beirut, Lebanon, Nasser moved to Australia where he joined Ford of Australia in 1968 as a financial analyst, proving himself to be both good with numbers and a keen businessman. He transferred to America in early 1973 to work with Ford's North American Truck Operations as part of the finance staff. Later that year, he returned to his native land, this time as a profit analysis manager.

 

 

Elias James Corey

Winner of the 1990 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Elias James Corey has been lauded as one of the giants of 20th-century chemistry, and as the father of synthetic organic chemistry. In 1990, at the age of 62, Corey was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his contributions to the development of organic synthesis, a recognition that many of his colleagues said was long overdue.

 

 

Corey created synthetic versions of natural body chemicals called prostaglandins, which play a crucial role in inflammation, blood clotting, blood flow, gastrointestinal functions and other biological processes. In the 1960s, Corey developed a technique he called "retrosynthetic analysis." Using this method, chemists are able to determine the nature of the chemical bonds between components of a naturally-occuring molecule, and which bonds can be broken. With this knowledge, chemists can synthesize the molecule in the laboratory. This form of synthetic chemistry enables the production of substances that are rare or scarce in nature. 

 

 

Sam Maloof  

Woodworker

The name of Sam Maloof is well-known to those who love modern art and craft. His work can be seen in major museums around the United States, and many celebrities, including three former American presidents, own wood furniture designed and made by Maloof.  

 

In 1948, Maloof received his first commission to design a piece of furniture, and his career as a furniture designer took off. Today, more than 4500 pieces of furniture bear the name of Sam Maloof. His sculptures are exhibited at some of the largest and most famous museums of the United States, including the Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, the St. Louis Art Museum, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the Detroit Institute of Arts, among others. 

 

 

Donna Shalala

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services

Donna Shalala is the longest serving Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) in U.S. history.  She joined the Clinton Administration in January 1993 to lead the federal government’s principal agency for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services.  With a Fiscal Year 2000 budget of approximately $395 billion and over 61,000 employees, HHS administers a wide variety of programs including Medicare, Medicaid and federal welfare and children’s programs.

 

 

Casey Kasem

Radio legend

Casey Kasem, a famous Lebanese-American, is one of the most listened to DJs in the world. Kasem is the host of the weekly radio countdown shows "American Top 40" and “American Top 20,” heard on more than 450 radio stations worldwide.  Kasem is also the host of the daily feature "America’s Top Hits." 

 

Casey Kasem, born Kemal Kasem, has come a long way since his childhood in Detroit, Michigan, as the son of a Lebanese immigrant who left for America at the age of 14 to seek fortune. 

 

In 1970, Kasem along with his Lebanese-American colleague, Don Bustany, created and produced the weekly radio show "American Top 40".  Kasem also branched into film acting and television. Kasem's voice became highly sought after for commercials and the voices of TV cartoon characters like Shaggy in the "Scooby Doo" series. Since 1966, Kasem appeared in over 50 feature films and television shows.

 

Moustafa T. Chahine

Aerospace scientist

Dr. Moustafa T. Chahine is Chief Scientist of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California Institute of Technology, in Pasadena.  JPL is a Division of the California Institute of Technology and the NASA lead center for the exploration of the Solar System.  

 

After receiving his Ph.D. in fluid physics from the University of California at Berkeley in 1960, Chahine joined JPL as Research Scientist.  From 1975 to 1978 he headed the Planetary Atmosphere Section and in 1978 he established at JPL the Division of Earth and Space Sciences.  He also recruited and managed the diverse activities of the Division’s 400 researchers until 1984.

 

 

 

Joseph Jacobs

Entrepreneur

Dr. Joseph Jacobs is the founder of Jacobs Engineering, one of the ten leading engineering and construction firms in the United States, with 1999 revenues exceeding $2.9 billion. 

 

Dr. Jacobs was born in 1916 in New York.  In his book "The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur," Jacobs tells the story of his parents who left Lebanon to the United States at a young age with the hope of escaping the hardships during the Ottoman Empire. 

 

George A. Joulwan

Military Officer

United States President Bill Clinton once said of General George Joulwan, "His efforts have built a foundation for a Europe that is safe, secure and democratic." 

Clinton's comment is no overstatement when one looks at the military career of George A. Joulwan. Boasting one of the most impressive military records in recent decades, there is little that Joulwan didn't see in his forty years of military service.  In the fourteen years he was stationed in Germany Joulwan witnessed the Berlin Wall being erected, and then torn down. He witnessed the horrors of combat during two tours in Vietnam. While serving as Commander in Chief of U.S. Forces in Central America, he saw democracy develop in Panama, and peace emerge in El Salvador. 

 

Hassan Kamel Al-Sabbah

Inventor

Hassan Kamel Al-Sabbah was a technological innovator whose inventions in electricity had a great impact on the development of 20th century technology. 

 

In August 1921, Sabbah traveled to the U.S. to study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for one year. In 1922, he enrolled at the University of Illinois, where he earned a master’s degree in engineering sciences in 1923.

He was hired by the engineering laboratory of the General Electric Company (GE) at Schenectady, N.Y. in 1923. It was not long before his research efforts resulted in a number of patents. However, Sabbah had signed a contract with GE whereby all his inventions became the property of the company, and so he received a reward of one dollar for each of his patented inventions. Between 1927 and 1935, Sabbah invented 52 different applications. 

 

 

Waleed Howrani

Musician

Waleed Howrani, concert pianist and composer, has been recognized from an early age as a significant talent. During a concert tour in the United States, Howrani’s performance was praised in The Washington Post for "his technical command, close attention to minute details and lucid interpretive powers…buoyed by a poetic sensitivity that is at once refined and free-spirited." 

 

Born in New York in 1948, Howrani grew up in Beirut, studying piano with Sonia Aharonian and Zvart Sarkissian, theory and harmony with Salvador Arnita, and solfege with Tawfic Succar.  In 1959, at the age of 11, he represented Lebanon in the International Soloist Concert in Vienna.  

 

Expanding his musical horizons, Howrani studied composition with the late American composer William Albright in the late 1980s.  In 1986, his achievements prompted the city of San Diego to designate April 13 “Waleed Howrani Day".

 

 

Gibran Khalil Gibran  

Poet and Philosopher

 “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” Many of us know this as a quotation from a speech made by U.S. President John F. Kennedy in 1961. It is less well known that this quote appeared earlier in Gibran Khalil Gibran’s most popular book, “The Prophet,” published in 1923. 

 

Almost 70 years after his death, Gibran is still held in high regard as the most important writer to mark the transition from classic to modern Arabic literature.

 

 

Danny Thomas

Danny Thomas is remembered as one of Hollywood's leading Renaissance men. An accomplished song-and-dance man, actor and producer, Thomas gave television some of its most revered programs. In addition, he was a devout humanitarian who helped to found the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. 

Thomas starred in the Emmy Award-winning television series "Make Room For Daddy," and produced long-running hits like "The Andy Griffith Show" and "The Dick Van Dyke Show." 

The fifth of ten children in a Lebanese-American family, Danny Thomas was born Amos Jacob in January 1914. At the age of ten he was selling newspapers and candy to help his parents make ends meet. 

 

Ralph Nader 

Consumer protection advocate

Ralph Nader is internationally known as the founder of the consumer rights movement in the U.S.  Since the 1960s, his crusading passion for greater consumer awareness and for corporate and government accountability, has attracted many young lawyers, students and other activists to his mission. Today, more than 50 nonprofit organizations in the U.S. are staffed by thousands of people who learned from Nader how to conduct fact-finding investigations and then follow these up with effective legislative lobbying.  

 

Nader was born in 1934 in Winsted, Connecticut, the youngest of four children. His father, Nathra, was born in Arsoun, and his mother, Rose, in Zahlé. The Naders emigrated from Lebanon to the U.S. in 1912, settling in Connecticut where they raised Ralph, his brother Shafik, and his two sisters, Laura and Claire. 

 

 

Philip Habib

Diplomat

Philip Habib was famous for his intelligent leadership, skill in negotiation under difficult circumstances, and his effective solutions for complex international situations. During his long career in diplomacy, Habib received many awards in recognition of his skill and service. He authored several books on diplomacy, including “Diplomacy and the Search for Peace in the Middle East,” published in 1985. 

 

Habib was often placed in the role of peacemaker. From 1968 to 1971, he served as the U.S. delegate to the Vietnam War negotiations in Paris that led to the peace accords with North Vietnam. Habib also served as an important negotiator in Middle Eastern affairs under three U.S. presidents.

 

 

 

Joseph Jamail

Attorney

Joseph Dahr Jamail, 74, was named by Forbes magazine in 1995 as the number one trial lawyer in the U.S. He has also been cited as one of the 100 most influential attorneys in the U.S., and is included in the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans, with a net worth estimated at $1.2 billion.

Jamail earned both his bachelor's and law degrees at the University of Texas at Austin. He practices law in Houston, Texas as a partner in his law firm, Jamail & Kolius. Jamail received widespread exposure when, in 1987, he won a $10.5 billion settlement for Pennzoil Co. against the Texaco Corporation, the largest settlement ever reached in a U.S. court. The verdict, which Pennzoil and Texaco later settled for $3 billion, drove Texaco into bankruptcy.

 

 

Edmond Safra

International banker

Born into a Lebanese banking family, Edmond Safra set up banks in South America, the U.S. and Europe, and, until his death in 1999, managed a worldwide financial empire. 

In 1948, the Safra family left Lebanon for Brazil, where they founded Banco Safra S.A., which is today one of the country's biggest banks with over 50 branches. 

 

In 1966, Edmond Safra founded the Republic National Bank of New York. The bank grew to include over 80 branches in the New York area alone, making it the third largest branch network in the New York metro area, behind Citigroup and Chase Manhattan. The bank also has eight branches in Florida. 

 

 

Tom Shadyac

Movie director

Director Tom Shadyac was responsible for Jim Carrey's 1994 smash hit debut Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.  The film earned $72 million at the box office in the U.S. alone.  The film's success made Jim Carrey an overnight superstar and transformed him from a little-known actor into one of Hollywood's leading comics of the decade. 

 

Shadyac moved to Los Angeles in 1983, and at the age of 23, became the youngest staff joke writer ever for the legendary comedian Bob Hope.  Shadyac received his master's degree in film from the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1989.  He worked for the Fox TV network and in 1991, re-wrote and directed Frankenstein: The College Years.

 

 

 

South America

 

Carlos Slim Helu

Entrepreneur

In 1999, Forbes Magazine listed Lebanese-Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helu as one of the richest men in the world. When looking at Helu's conglomerate company Grupo Carso, it is not surprising that Helu is listed among the ranks of Bill Gates and Sam Walton. 

Considered to be the richest man in Latin America, there is little in the world of finance that Helu has not explored. His reputation for turning failing companies into successes has earned him respect from business-leaders worldwide.

 

 

 

Shakira Mebarak 

Singer

At the young age of 23, Colombian-born singer Shakira Mebarak has already conquered the world. She’s made the cover of Time magazine (international edition), sold millions of records worldwide, and won several music awards. Shakira was even designated as an official goodwill ambassador by the Colombian government and in May 1997, she met with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican, where she asked him to intervene to end Colombia’s 36-year civil war.  

 

Shakira has proved to be a critics’ darling.  The Boston Globe says that “Her guitar-playing is deft and determined, and her compositions experiment with rhythms from Latin America and the Middle East...” 

In one of the songs on her album Donde Estan los Ladrones, Shakira sings in Arabic and talks about Beirut.  

 

 

EDWARD SEAGA 

Politician

Edward Seaga, who served as Jamaica’s Prime Minister from 1980-1989, helped revive 

a desperately ailing economy and bring Jamaica into a much-needed era of stability. 

The American-born Seaga spent his childhood in Jamaica, attending the Wolmer’s Boy’s 

School. He later attended Harvard University, and at the age of 22, received 

a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Sciences. 

Seaga first found himself introduced to the political world in 1959 when Jamaica Labor 

Party founder Sir Alexander Bustamante nominated him for the Jamaica Legislature. At 

age 29, Seaga became the youngest member ever to serve on the committee. 

Eventually, Seaga became the head of the Jamaican Labor Party, and campaigned for 

the Prime Minister position in 1980. 

 

 

Carlos Massad

Director of the Central Bank of Chile

Carlos Massad knows a lot about money. He has taught economics courses for over 20 

years and has written extensively on the subject. In addition, he bears the admirable 

distinction of being elected Chile’s central bank director twice.

 

A world-renown expert on finances and economics, Massad has been honored in 

countries from Italy to Lebanon. He has held political positions ranging from Minister of 

Health to Chile’s Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund. Massad has also written 14 books and over 100 publications on economics.

 

 

Michel  Temer

President of the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil

In Brazil the name Michel Temer is instantly recognized. The president of the Chamber 

of Deputies, Temer holds one of Brazil’s most important positions.

Temer has served on the Chamber of Deputies since 1987. He was elected president of 

the Chamber of Deputies in 1997 and was re-elected in 1999. Temer has held 

other political positions as well, including the elected leader of the Partido do 

Movimento Democratico Brasileiro (Brazilian Democratic Movement Party). He has also 

been elected several times as the Federal Deputy for the State of Sao Paulo. 

 

 

Jamil Mahuad

Former President of Ecuador

Dr. Jamil Mahuad served as president of Ecuador from August 1998 to January 2000. His term as president ended early due to his efforts to replace the national currency, the sucre, with the U.S. dollar. Despite this controversy, Mahuad is still well regarded in Ecuador for his efforts on behalf of the country and its people during his long career in business and politics.  

 

Mahuad was the manager of the National Vital Products Corp. from 1981 to 1984. Since 1981, Mahuad has been affiliated with the Popular Democratic Party, and has served twice in the National Congress, from 1986 to 1988 and from 1990 to 1992.  He was the presidential candidate for the Popular Democratic Party in Ecuador’s 1988 election. 

 

 

Julio Cesar Turbay Ayala

Former President of Colombia 

Julio Cesar Turbay Ayala is often described as a simple, modest, and tolerant person. Yet he is also a charismatic and powerful politician who has held many different offices in Colombia, including that of president. Over the years, Turbay has received many honors from governments of other countries, from universities and from political groups in recognition of his practical political skills and true respect for the opinions of others. Turbay has also authored several books on international politics. 

 

Turbay’s political career has included many different positions. He has been a senator, president of Colombia’s Congress, minister of mines and petroleum and minister of foreign affairs. He has been the president of the Liberal National Party, and has handled the transition of the presidency of Colombia on three occasions. Turbay has served as Colombia’s delegate to the General Assembly of the U.N., and has also served as Colombia’s ambassador to Britain and to the U.S. 

 

The culmination of Turbay’s political career was his election as president of Colombia. During his term, which ran from 1978 to 1982.

 

 

Paulo Maluf 

Politician

Based on the results of a 1996 survey, Paulo Maluf is one of the most respected politicians in Brazil. Maluf has worked hard in a number of different public positions to improve life for the people of Brazil.  He was president of the Federal Savings Bank and twice mayor of SaoPaulo, the largest South American city, with over 10 million people.  He was also State Secretary of Transport, and governor of the State of SaoPaulo, the most important Brazilian state, with a population of over 34 million people.  Maluf was also elected to the Senate, and has run two campaigns for the presidency of Brazil. 

 

Maluf’s father, Salim Farah Maluf, emigrated from Hadath, a village near Baalbeck, Lebanon, to SaoPaulo, where Maluf was born in 1931. After earning a Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, Maluf began working in his family’s business, the second-largest wood factory in Latin America, with over 7,000 employees. In 1967, at the age of 36, Maluf took his first public office, as president of the Federal Savings Bank. 

 

 

Alfredo Harp Helu

Banker

Alfredo Harp Helu, 56, is a leading Mexican banker and the son of a Lebanese immigrant. One of Mexico's richest businessmen, Helu became a billionaire while still in his 40s.  

Helu is president of Grupo Financiero Banamex Accival, which owns Banco National de Mexico. With more than 1200 branches, it is one of Latin America's largest banks. Grupo Financiero Banamex Accival also offers a number of other services through its affiliated companies.  These include insurance services through Seguros Banamex, pension fund services through Afore Banamex, and securities brokering through Acciones y Valores de Mexico.

 

 

Japan

 

Carlos Ghosn

Chief Operating Officer, Nissan Motor Co.

Carlos Ghosn, dubbed ''le cost killer'' in France, has earned the added nickname of ''7-Eleven'' for the hours he keeps. Ghosn earned his reputation for ruthless cost control during his first year at Renault, reviving the struggling car maker's fortunes. Today, as chief operating officer of Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., Japan's No. 2 auto maker, he is setting new and ambitious targets for profitability.