Gebran Tueni

Gebran Ghassan Tueni (Arabic: جبران تويني‎; 15 September 1957 – 12 December 2005) was a Lebanese politician and the former editor and publisher of daily paper An Nahar, established by his grandfather, also named Gebran Tueni, in 1933.

Early life

Gebran Tueni was born in Beirut on 15 September 1957. His father was a veteran journalist and politician, Ghassan Tueni. His mother was the famous Francophone, Lebanese Druze poet, Nadia Hamadeh. His paternal grandfather was Gebran Tueni, a famous journalist and an Arab Renaissance figure who founded Al Ahrar and later on An Nahar. Gebran Tueni was named after his grandfather. His maternal grandfather, Mohammed Ali Hamadeh, was a diplomat and writer. His maternal uncle is the former Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh.

At age 18, Gebran Tueni experienced the horror of sectarian intolerance with the outbreak of the Lebanese civil war. In 1976, he was shot in the legs by Palestinian guerrillas. He was also kidnapped for 36 hours by Christian militiamen in 1977.

Gebran Tueni (journalist)

Gebran Tueni (in Arabic جبران تويني) also written Tueini born to an Greek Orthodox Christian family in Lebanon and who died in Beirut, Lebanon in 1948, was a famous Lebanese journalist and a figure of the Arab Renaissance. Because of his political views, he lived in exile for a while in Paris.

Returning to Beirut, he founded the Lebanese newspaper Al Ahrar (in Arabic الاحرار) and in 1933, An Nahar (in Arabic النهار) daily newspaper that became the largest circulation daily in Lebanon.

The paper that started on August 4, 1933 as a 4-page tabloid was published by Gebran Tueni as its editor-in-chief and he continued at the head of the influential newspaper until his sudden death in 1948, when editing was taken over by his son Ghassan Tueni, also a prominent journalist, politician, ambassador, and later on Lebanese government minister who continued until 1999.

His grandson Gebran Tueni, the son of Ghassan Tueni, who was named after him became the editor-in-chief of An Nahar after Ghassan Tueni's retirement. The grandson Gebran was also a prominent Lebanese journalist who was elected as a Member of Parliament in Lebanon in 2005, and a fierce critic of the Syrian government and its policies in Lebanon and a figure of March 14 Alliance leading to his assassination on 12 December 2005.