Henri Philippe Pharaoun

Philippe Henri Pharaon (* 1898 in Alexandria, Egypt; † August 6, 1993 in Beirut ) was a Lebanese politician and businessman.

Biography

The son of a Melkite Greek Catholic businessman studied post-school in Switzerland Law at the Catholic University of Lyon.

Pharaon was in the independence movement in Lebanon and which is one of the fathers of Lebanese sovereignty of France on 22 November 1943. Subsequently, he was elected a member of the National Assembly ( Assemblée nationale du Liban ) and belonged to this until 1946. From him came the design and the design of the flag of Lebanon, which was officially adopted on 7 December 1943.

After independence, he was again during the tenure of Prime Minister Riad as- Solh 1945, and from 1946 to 1947 Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Although he was an opponent of French colonial rule, he was oriented west and 1949 founder of the pro-European, non- Mediterranean Arab party during a heated debate in the Western or Arab national identity of the country, which lasted almost 30 years later to the 1975-1990 Lebanese civil war contributed. Pharaoh himself was an advocate of a kind of " peaceful coexistence" between Christians and Muslims, and therefore tried to mediate the late 1950s, during the Lebanon crisis in 1958 as an intermediary between the pro-Western and pro-Arab groups. When he was not appointed to the Cabinet in 1958 formed the National Reconciliation Prime Minister Rashid Karami of he retired from politics.

However, in the following 30 years he was head of the Port Authority of Beirut and was not only a successful businessman and owner of the world's largest horse racing stable with Arabian horses, but also an internationally renowned antique and art collector.

When he was found dead in his hotel room in Beirut, his former driver and bodyguard was arrested for the crime. As a motive, the police gave to a robbery by Pharaons former employees.