Camille Chamoun (3 April 1900-7 August 1987) was President of Lebanon from 23 September 1952 to 22 September 1958, succeeding Bechara el-Khoury and preceding Fuad Chehab.
Biography[]
Chamoun in 1976
Camille Chamoun was born on 3 April 1900 in Deir al-Qamar, Lebanon to a family of Catholic Maronites. He was elected to the parliament of Lebanon in 1934, being reelected twice during World War II; Chamoun became a major leader of the independence and nationalist movement in the years following the war. From 1944 to 1946 he served as the ambassador to the United Kingdom and then served as the ambassador to the United Nations, and Chamoun was elected President of Lebanon on 23 September 1952 after Bechara el-Khoury's term ended; Chamoun was the second President of Lebanon. During his tenure, Chamoun had to deal with an uprising by pro-Egypt organizations, and the United States sent the US Marine Corps to assist him in fighting against the Nasserist rebels in the 1958 Lebanon crisis. Chamoun instigated the war by illegally seeking another term as president, and he left office in September. However, Chamoun remained an important politician as the leader of the Maronite community of Lebanon, and during the 1970s he was the face of the "Old Lebanon", where private business ruled society rather than having a democratic society. During the Lebanese Civil War, his sons Dany Chamoun and Dory Chamoun were key leaders of the rebels, and Dany Chamoun led the Tigers Militia in a war against the Israeli invading forces as well as Syrian forces until he was killed. Chamoun died in 1987, and militia commanders became the new leaders of Lebanon.