Pierre Gemayel
Encyclopedia
Sheikh Pierre Gemayel
(November 6, 1905 – August 29, 1984) (last name also spelt Jmayyel, Jemayyel or al-Jumayyil, Sheikh
is an honorific title in Arab
countries), was a Lebanese
political leader. He is remembered as the founder of the Kataeb Party (also known as the Phalangist Party), as a parliamentary powerbroker, and as the father of Bachir Gemayel
and Amine Gemayel
, both of whom were elected to the Presidency of the Republic in his lifetime. He opposed the French
Mandate
over Lebanon in the late 1930s and early 1940s, and advocated an independent state, free from foreign control. He was known for his deft political maneuvering, which led him to take positions which were seen by supporters as pragmatic, but by opponents as contradictory, or even hypocritical. Although publicly sympathetic to the Palestinian
cause, he later changed his position due to Palestinian support of the Lebanese National Movement
and its calls to end the National Pact
and establish non-sectarian democracy.
A controversial politician, he survived several assassination attempts. Several of his descendants were less fortunate. His son, Bachir Gemayel
was assassinated on 14 September 1982 after being elected to the Presidency. His grandson Pierre Amine Gemayel
, a Cabinet Minister, was similarly assassinated. Several other descendants of Pierre Gemayel have also been murdered.
. He was raised in the village of Bickfayya, Lebanon
where his family had played a prominent role since 1540. His father Amine Bachir Gemayel, known as Abou Ali, and his uncle were forced to flee to Egypt
after being sentenced to death
in 1914 for opposing Ottoman
rule, returning to Lebanon only at the end of World War I
.
Gemayel, a Christian
Maronite, was educated at Jesuit school. He went on to study pharmacology
at the French Faculty of Medicine in Beirut
, where he later opened a pharmacy. He also took an interest in sport, and attended the 1936 Olympic games
in Berlin
. On his return to Lebanon later that year, he founded Al Kataeb Al Loubnaniyyah
party (also known as Les Phallanges Libanaises in French, or the Lebanese Phalangist party in English), with Georges Naqqache, Charles Helou, Chafic Nassif and Hamid Franjieh, who was later replaced with Emile Yared, modelling the party after the Spanish and Italian Fascist parties he had observed there.
Charles Helou
, who later served as Lebanon's President from 1964 to 1970, worked with Pierre Gemayel in the early organization of the party. By the time of his presidency, however, Helou was no longer a party member, and Gemayel unsuccessfully opposed him in the presidential election of 1964.
. It was not until the Civil War of 1958
, that Gemayel emerged as a leader of the far right-wing separatist (mainly Christian) movement that opposed a Nasserist
and Arab-nationalist
inspired attempt to overthrow the government of president Camille Chamoun
and supported the return of foreign troops to Lebanon. In the aftermath of the war, Gemayel was appointed a cabinet minister in a four-member Unity government. Two years later, Gemayel was elected to the National Assembly, from a Beirut constituency, a seat he held for the rest of his life. By the end of the 1960s, the Kataeb Party held 9 seats in the National Assembly, making it one of the largest groupings in Lebanon's notoriously fractured and sectarian parliament. Although his bids for the presidency in 1964 and 1970 were unsuccessful, Gemayel continued to hold cabinet posts intermittently throughout the remaining quarter-century of his life.
Lebanon has long been a battleground in the Israeli-Arab conflict, and Gemayel's position was always solid and consistent advocating a Lebanon separated from the other Arab states and linked to France and the West. He opposed the presence of the Palestinian refugee
s. His supporters viewed this as a sign of strength and patriotism, while his detractors saw it as incoherent. Gemayel reluctantly signed the Cairo Agreement
of 1969 under enormous pressure from the international community, which allowed Palestinian
guerrillas to set up bases on Lebanese soil, from which to carry out actions against Israel
. He later defended his actions, saying that Lebanon really had no choice. In the 1970s, he came to oppose the armed Palestinian presence in Lebanon. The Kataeb created a military Security Council led by William Hawi
, which came to be commanded by Gemayel's son Bachir
upon the assassination of Hawi.
Gemayel was also to reverse his position on The Syria
n intervention in the Lebanese Civil War
of 1975 to 1990. He initially welcomed Syria
n intervention on the side of the Christians and against the Lebanese National Movement
, but he soon became convinced that Syria was occupying Lebanon for reasons of its own. In 1976, he joined other mainly Christian leaders, including former president Camille Chamoun
, the diplomat Charles Malik, and the Guardians of the Cedars
leader Étienne Saqr
, to oppose the Syrians. On October 11, 1978, Gemayel bitterly denounced the Syrian military presence, and the Lebanese Front
joined the Lebanese regular army in a successful "Hundred Days War
" against the Syrian army.
, elected President of Lebanon on August 23, 1982, only to be assassinated on September 14, nine days before his scheduled inauguration. Bachir's older brother, Amine Gemayel
was elected to replace him. Pierre Gemayel himself initially stayed out of his son's government, but in early 1984, after participating in two conferences in Geneva
and Lausanne
, Switzerland
, aimed at ending the civil war and the occupation of the country by Israeli troops which had invaded in 1982, he agreed to serve once more in a Cabinet of National Unity. He was still in office when he died in Bikfaya, on 29 August 1984, aged 79 years.
Gemayel
Gemayel is the name of a prominent Maronite family based in Bikfaya, Lebanon. Transliterated Arabic is Jamail.Prominent members include:* Philip Gemayel, Maronite patriarch from 1795 to 1796...
(November 6, 1905 – August 29, 1984) (last name also spelt Jmayyel, Jemayyel or al-Jumayyil, Sheikh
Sheikh
Not to be confused with sikhSheikh — also spelled Sheik or Shaikh, or transliterated as Shaykh — is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor"...
is an honorific title in Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
countries), was a Lebanese
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
political leader. He is remembered as the founder of the Kataeb Party (also known as the Phalangist Party), as a parliamentary powerbroker, and as the father of Bachir Gemayel
Bachir Gemayel
Bachir Gemayel was a Lebanese politician, militia commander, and president-elect...
and Amine Gemayel
Amine Gemayel
Amine Pierre Gemayel was President of Lebanon from 1982 to 1988 and is the leader of Kataeb Party.Born in the Lebanese village of Bikfaya, Amine Gemayel is the son of Pierre Gemayel, founder of the Kataeb Party...
, both of whom were elected to the Presidency of the Republic in his lifetime. He opposed the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Mandate
League of Nations mandate
A League of Nations mandate was a legal status for certain territories transferred from the control of one country to another following World War I, or the legal instruments that contained the internationally agreed-upon terms for administering the territory on behalf of the League...
over Lebanon in the late 1930s and early 1940s, and advocated an independent state, free from foreign control. He was known for his deft political maneuvering, which led him to take positions which were seen by supporters as pragmatic, but by opponents as contradictory, or even hypocritical. Although publicly sympathetic to the Palestinian
Palestinian territories
The Palestinian territories comprise the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, the region is today recognized by three-quarters of the world's countries as the State of Palestine or simply Palestine, although this status is not recognized by the...
cause, he later changed his position due to Palestinian support of the Lebanese National Movement
Lebanese National Movement
The Lebanese National Movement or Mouvement National Libanais in French, was a front of parties and organizations active during the early years of the Lebanese Civil War...
and its calls to end the National Pact
National Pact
The National Pact is an unwritten agreement that laid the foundation of Lebanon as a multi-confessional state, and has shaped the country to this day. Following negotiations between the Shi'ite, Sunni, and Maronite leaderships, the National Pact was born in the summer of 1943 allowing Lebanon to...
and establish non-sectarian democracy.
A controversial politician, he survived several assassination attempts. Several of his descendants were less fortunate. His son, Bachir Gemayel
Bachir Gemayel
Bachir Gemayel was a Lebanese politician, militia commander, and president-elect...
was assassinated on 14 September 1982 after being elected to the Presidency. His grandson Pierre Amine Gemayel
Pierre Amine Gemayel
Pierre Amine Gemayel was a Lebanese politician in the Kataeb Party, better known in English as the Phalange Party. Lebanon's second-youngest MP, he was a rising star in his party...
, a Cabinet Minister, was similarly assassinated. Several other descendants of Pierre Gemayel have also been murdered.
Early life
Pierre Gemayel was born on 6 November 1905, in the city of Mansourah, EgyptEgypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. He was raised in the village of Bickfayya, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
where his family had played a prominent role since 1540. His father Amine Bachir Gemayel, known as Abou Ali, and his uncle were forced to flee to Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
after being sentenced to death
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
in 1914 for opposing Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
rule, returning to Lebanon only at the end of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
Gemayel, a Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
Maronite, was educated at Jesuit school. He went on to study pharmacology
Pharmacology
Pharmacology is the branch of medicine and biology concerned with the study of drug action. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between a living organism and chemicals that affect normal or abnormal biochemical function...
at the French Faculty of Medicine in Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
, where he later opened a pharmacy. He also took an interest in sport, and attended the 1936 Olympic games
1936 Summer Olympics
The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona, Spain on April 26, 1931, at the 29th IOC Session in Barcelona...
in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. On his return to Lebanon later that year, he founded Al Kataeb Al Loubnaniyyah
Kataeb Party
The Lebanese Phalanges , better known in English as the Phalange , is a traditional right-wing Lebanese political party. Although it is officially secular, it is mainly supported by Maronite Christians. The party played a major role in the Lebanese War...
party (also known as Les Phallanges Libanaises in French, or the Lebanese Phalangist party in English), with Georges Naqqache, Charles Helou, Chafic Nassif and Hamid Franjieh, who was later replaced with Emile Yared, modelling the party after the Spanish and Italian Fascist parties he had observed there.
Charles Helou
Charles Helou
Charles Helou was President of Lebanon from 1964 to 1970.Born in Beirut, Helou was the scion of a powerful Maronite family from Baabda. He graduated with honours from St. Joseph's University in Beirut in 1929, and went on to complete a Law degree in 1934...
, who later served as Lebanon's President from 1964 to 1970, worked with Pierre Gemayel in the early organization of the party. By the time of his presidency, however, Helou was no longer a party member, and Gemayel unsuccessfully opposed him in the presidential election of 1964.
Independence and Post-Independence leader
In the years before and after Lebanon's independence, Gemayel's influence and that of the Kataeb Party was limited. It survived a French attempt to forcibly dissolve it in 1937 and took part in an uprising against the French Mandate in 1943, but despite its membership of 35,000, it operated on the fringes of Lebanese politicsPolitics of Lebanon
Lebanon is a parliamentary republic within the overall framework of confessionalism, a form of consociationalism in which the highest offices are proportionately reserved for representatives from certain religious communities. The constitution grants the people the right to change their government...
. It was not until the Civil War of 1958
Lebanon crisis of 1958
The 1958 Lebanon crisis was a Lebanese political crisis caused by political and religious tensions in the country. It included a U.S. military intervention.-Background:...
, that Gemayel emerged as a leader of the far right-wing separatist (mainly Christian) movement that opposed a Nasserist
Nasserism
Nasserism is an Arab nationalist political ideology based on the thinking of the former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. It was a major influence on pan-Arab politics in the 1950s and 1960s, and continues to have significant resonance throughout the Arab World to this day. It also...
and Arab-nationalist
Arab nationalism
Arab nationalism is a nationalist ideology celebrating the glories of Arab civilization, the language and literature of the Arabs, calling for rejuvenation and political union in the Arab world...
inspired attempt to overthrow the government of president Camille Chamoun
Camille Chamoun
Camille Nimr Chamoun was President of Lebanon from 1952 to 1958, and one of the country's main Christian leaders during most of the Lebanese Civil War ....
and supported the return of foreign troops to Lebanon. In the aftermath of the war, Gemayel was appointed a cabinet minister in a four-member Unity government. Two years later, Gemayel was elected to the National Assembly, from a Beirut constituency, a seat he held for the rest of his life. By the end of the 1960s, the Kataeb Party held 9 seats in the National Assembly, making it one of the largest groupings in Lebanon's notoriously fractured and sectarian parliament. Although his bids for the presidency in 1964 and 1970 were unsuccessful, Gemayel continued to hold cabinet posts intermittently throughout the remaining quarter-century of his life.
Lebanon has long been a battleground in the Israeli-Arab conflict, and Gemayel's position was always solid and consistent advocating a Lebanon separated from the other Arab states and linked to France and the West. He opposed the presence of the Palestinian refugee
Palestinian refugee
Palestinian refugees or Palestine refugees are the people and their descendants, predominantly Palestinian Arabic-speakers, who fled or were expelled from their homes during and after the 1948 Palestine War, within that part of the British Mandate of Palestine, that after that war became the...
s. His supporters viewed this as a sign of strength and patriotism, while his detractors saw it as incoherent. Gemayel reluctantly signed the Cairo Agreement
Cairo agreement
The Cairo agreement or Cairo accord was an agreement reached on 2 November 1969 during talks between Yassir Arafat and the Lebanese army commander General Emile Bustani...
of 1969 under enormous pressure from the international community, which allowed Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
guerrillas to set up bases on Lebanese soil, from which to carry out actions against Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. He later defended his actions, saying that Lebanon really had no choice. In the 1970s, he came to oppose the armed Palestinian presence in Lebanon. The Kataeb created a military Security Council led by William Hawi
William Hawi
William Amine Hawi , — , William Hawi joined the Kataeb Social Democratic Party in 1937 better known in English as the Phalangist party organization, a right-wing political party in Lebanon....
, which came to be commanded by Gemayel's son Bachir
Bachir Gemayel
Bachir Gemayel was a Lebanese politician, militia commander, and president-elect...
upon the assassination of Hawi.
Gemayel was also to reverse his position on The Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
n intervention in the Lebanese Civil War
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon. The war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 150,000 to 230,000 civilian fatalities. Another one million people were wounded, and today approximately 350,000 people remain displaced. There was also a mass exodus of...
of 1975 to 1990. He initially welcomed Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
n intervention on the side of the Christians and against the Lebanese National Movement
Lebanese National Movement
The Lebanese National Movement or Mouvement National Libanais in French, was a front of parties and organizations active during the early years of the Lebanese Civil War...
, but he soon became convinced that Syria was occupying Lebanon for reasons of its own. In 1976, he joined other mainly Christian leaders, including former president Camille Chamoun
Camille Chamoun
Camille Nimr Chamoun was President of Lebanon from 1952 to 1958, and one of the country's main Christian leaders during most of the Lebanese Civil War ....
, the diplomat Charles Malik, and the Guardians of the Cedars
Guardians of the Cedars
The Guardians of the Cedars – GoC , also designated Gardiens du Cedre or Gardiens des Cèdres in French, are a far-right ultranationalist Lebanese party and former militia in Lebanon...
leader Étienne Saqr
Etienne Saqr
Etienne Saqr , also known by his nom de guerre "Abu Arz" , is a far-right, Lebanese nationalist and founder of the Guardians of the Cedars militia and political party...
, to oppose the Syrians. On October 11, 1978, Gemayel bitterly denounced the Syrian military presence, and the Lebanese Front
Lebanese Front
The Lebanese Front or Front libanais in French, also known as the "Kufur Front", was a coalition of mainly Christian parties formed in 1976, during the Lebanese Civil War...
joined the Lebanese regular army in a successful "Hundred Days War
Hundred Days War
The Hundred Days War , also known as La Guerre des Cent Jours in French was a subconflict within the 1977–82 phase of the Lebanese Civil War which occurred at the Lebanese Capital Beirut...
" against the Syrian army.
Later years
Gemayel saw his younger son, Bachir GemayelBachir Gemayel
Bachir Gemayel was a Lebanese politician, militia commander, and president-elect...
, elected President of Lebanon on August 23, 1982, only to be assassinated on September 14, nine days before his scheduled inauguration. Bachir's older brother, Amine Gemayel
Amine Gemayel
Amine Pierre Gemayel was President of Lebanon from 1982 to 1988 and is the leader of Kataeb Party.Born in the Lebanese village of Bikfaya, Amine Gemayel is the son of Pierre Gemayel, founder of the Kataeb Party...
was elected to replace him. Pierre Gemayel himself initially stayed out of his son's government, but in early 1984, after participating in two conferences in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
and Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, aimed at ending the civil war and the occupation of the country by Israeli troops which had invaded in 1982, he agreed to serve once more in a Cabinet of National Unity. He was still in office when he died in Bikfaya, on 29 August 1984, aged 79 years.