Solange Gemayel

2025-07-02T19:11:25Z

2A02:8388:28C9:6E80:98C2:466F:EB3D:71AC:

{{Short description|Lebanese first lady (born 1949)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Solange Gemayel
| native_name = {{nobold|{{lang|ar|صولانج الجميل}}}}
| image = File:Solange Gemayel.png
| image_size =
| caption = Solange Gemayel, 2010
| office = [[First Lady of Lebanon|First Lady-designate of Lebanon]]
| term_label = In role
| term_start = 23 August 1982
| term_end = 14 September 1982
| president = [[Bachir Gemayel]]
| predecessor = Iris Handaly
| successor = [[Joyce Gemayel]]
| birth_name = Solange Tutunji
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1949}}
| birth_place = [[Beirut]], [[Lebanon]]
| nationality = [[Lebanese nationality law|Lebanese]]
| party = [[Kataeb Party]]
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Bachir Gemayel]]|1977|1982|end=died}}
| children = Maya Gemayel (murdered) Youmna Gemayel [[Nadim Gemayel]]
| parents =
| residence =
| alma_mater =
| occupation =
}}
{{Maronite Politics sidebar}}
'''Solange Gemayel''' ({{langx|ar|صولانج الجميل}}; born 1949) is a Lebanese political figure and former [[First Lady of Lebanon]]. The widow of former [[List of Presidents of Lebanon|President]]-elect [[Bachir Gemayel]] (1947–1982), who was assassinated days before he was due to take office in 1982. She co-founded the Bachir Gemayel Foundation to keep her late husband's legacy alive.

==Political activities and views==
Solange Gemayel strongly opposed the [[Syria]]n military presence in [[Lebanon]], and was an enemy of the Syrian-backed government which took power in 1990. She is strongly pro-Western
In 2002, she openly condemned [[Karim Pakradouni]] as the Kataeb's "imposed by force" leader and argued that he betrayed the real Phalange values that her husband fought for during his lifetime.<ref name=lebfor02>{{cite web|title=Solange Gemayel Blasts Pakradouni as 'Forcefully Imposed Leader|url=http://www.lebaneseforces.com/news1july172002.asp|publisher=Lebanese Forces|access-date=4 July 2012|date=17 July 2002|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020803200753/http://lebaneseforces.com/news1july172002.asp|archive-date=3 August 2002}}</ref>

Hosting a formal dinner at her home in August 2003, she praised what she called America's "historic step" to ''"establish democracy, fight terrorism, make peace and give the people a taste of freedom."'' She also joined her son, [[Nadim Gemayel|Nadim]], in endorsing [[Hikmat Dib]] of the [[Free Patriotic Movement]] in an important byelection. This put her (and her son) at odds with her brother-in-law, former President [[Amine Gemayel]], who endorsed the more moderate [[Henri Helou]]. Helou won, but by a much smaller margin than had been expected.

She was an outspoken critic at several major demonstrations against the Syrian presence and the Syrian-backed government, in the wake of the 14 February assassination of former [[List of Prime Ministers of Lebanon|Prime Minister]] [[Rafik Hariri]].

[[Ghattas Khoury]] declared in May 2005 that he would withdraw from the Beirut elections for the sole Maronite seat, enabling Saad Hariri to include Solange Gemayel on his list.<ref name=lwire05>{{cite web|title=Ghattas Khoury bows out in Solange's favor on Saad's list|url=http://www.lebanonwire.com/0505/05051502NNT.asp|publisher=Lebanonwire|accessdate=4 July 2012|date=15 May 2005}}</ref> [[Saad Hariri]] announced on 16 May 2005 that Gemayel would contest the election as a member of a multiconfessional electoral ticket he had compiled. On 30 May 2005, Gemayel was elected to represent the Beirut constituency.<ref name=aswat>{{cite web|title=Women in Lebanese Elections: Second-Class Citizens|url=https://www.aswat.com/en/node/1200|publisher=ASWAT|access-date=4 July 2012|date=7 October 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090827001909/http://www.aswat.com/en/node/1200|archive-date=27 August 2009}}</ref> In 2009 elections, she stepped out the race in favor of her son, Nadim.<ref name=nleb12>{{cite news|last=Ali|first=Maysam|title=Where are our women MPs?|url=http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArchiveDetails.aspx?ID=92875|accessdate=4 July 2012|newspaper=Now Lebanon|date=11 May 2009|archive-date=10 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120110075855/http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArchiveDetails.aspx?ID=92875|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Hamzah|first=Weedah|title=Political success in Lebanon runs in the family|url=http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/features/article_1480812.php/Political_success_in_Lebanon_runs_in_the_family_Feature|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130129045255/http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/features/article_1480812.php/Political_success_in_Lebanon_runs_in_the_family_Feature|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 January 2013|access-date=4 July 2012|newspaper=M and C News|date=2 June 2009}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Solange belongs to the Tutunji family which traces its roots to [[Aleppo]], in present-day Syria. She married Bachir Gemayel in March 1977.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Eldem |first1=Edhem |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=efp53UAQ6bIC&dq=Tutunji+aleppo+lebanon&pg=PA75 |title=The Ottoman City Between East and West: Aleppo, Izmir, and Istanbul |last2=Goffman |first2=Daniel |last3=Masters |first3=Bruce Alan |date=1999-11-11 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-64304-7 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=ReneNaba |date=2018-01-05 |title=Le Mic Mac de la France dans son projet de création d'un État sous contrôle kurde à Raqqa en Syrie |url=https://libnanews.com/mic-mac-de-france-projet-de-creation-dun-etat-controle-kurde-a-raqqa-syrie/ |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=Libnanews, Le Média Citoyen du Liban |language=fr-FR}}</ref> Their first daughter, Maya, was born the following year. She was killed in 1980, by a car bomb intended against her father. A second daughter, Youmna, was born in 1980, and a son, [[Nadim Gemayel|Nadim]], in 1982, only months before his father's assassination.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/09/15/obituaries/bashir-gemayel-lived-by-the-sword.html|title=Bashir Gemayel lived by the sword|website=[[The New York Times]]|date=15 September 1982|author=Edward A. Gargan}}</ref> Solange Gemayel raised her two surviving children to carry on their late father's legacy. Nadim indicated his intention to follow in the footsteps of his father and mother by participating in the political process.

In October 2017, the Lebanese justice sentenced the killers of Bachir Gemayel, 35 years after the killing,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1059131/lebanese-judiciary-sentences-bashir-gemayel%E2%80%99s-killers-death|title=Lebanese Judiciary Sentences Bashir Gemayel's Killers to Death|website=Aawsat.com|date=21 October 2017|author=Paula Astih|access-date=4 May 2019|archive-date=4 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190504002637/https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1059131/lebanese-judiciary-sentences-bashir-gemayel%25E2%2580%2599s-killers-death|url-status=dead}}</ref> a trial she said she "had been expecting".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://yalibnan.com/2016/11/26/lebanon-orders-gemayels-assassin-to-turn-himself-in-within-24-hours/|title=Lebanon orders Gemayel's assassin, Habib Shartouni to turn himself in within 24 hours|website=Yalibnan.com|date=26 November 2016}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Wikiquote|Solange Gemayel}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-hon}}
{{s-bef|before=Iris Handaly}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[First Lady of Lebanon]] {{small|Designate}}|years=1982}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Joyce Gemayel]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gemayel, Solange}}
[[Category:1949 births]]
[[Category:21st-century Lebanese women politicians]]
[[Category:21st-century Lebanese politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century Lebanese women]]
[[Category:20th-century Lebanese people]]
[[Category:First ladies of Lebanon]]
[[Category:Gemayel family|Solange]]
[[Category:Kataeb Party politicians]]

[[Category:Lebanese anti-communists]]
[[Category:Lebanese Maronites]]
[[Category:Lebanese socialites]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of Lebanon]]
[[Category:Politicians from Beirut]]

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Solange Gemayel