25 Facts About Antoun Saadeh

Antoun Saadeh was a Lebanese politician, sociologist, philosopher and writer who founded the Syrian Social Nationalist Party.

Antoun Saadeh was the son of a Greek Orthodox Christian physician, Khalil Saadeh and Naifa Nassir Khneisser.

Antoun Saadeh's father was himself a Syrian nationalist as well as democracy advocate, and an intellectual and author, who has been described as "a prolific writer and polymath, whose works span the fields of politics, literature, journalism, novel-writing, and translation".

Antoun Saadeh completed his elementary education in his birth town and continued his studies at the Lycee des Freres in Cairo and came back to Lebanon at the death of his mother.

In 1924, Antoun Saadeh founded a secret society to unify Natural Syria.

Natural Syria, according to Antoun Saadeh, included the Levant, Palestine, Transjordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and parts of Southern Turkey.

Also, in 1931, Antoun Saadeh worked at the daily newspaper Al-Ayyam; then, in 1932, he taught German at the American University of Beirut.

On 16 November 1932, Antoun Saadeh secretly founded the Syrian Social Nationalist Party.

Three years later, on 16 November 1935, the party's existence was proclaimed, and Antoun Saadeh was arrested and sentenced to six years imprisonment by the French colonial powers.

Antoun Saadeh was released from prison early but was again detained in June 1936, where he wrote another book, "Principles Explained".

Antoun Saadeh was released from prison in late May 1937.

Antoun Saadeh went to Brazil and founded the newspaper New Syria.

In 1939, at the outbreak of World War II, Antoun Saadeh moved to Argentina, where he remained until 1947.

Antoun Saadeh founded Al-Zawba'a newspaper and wrote The Intellectual Conflict in Syrian Literature, which was printed in Buenos Aires.

In 1943, Antoun Saadeh married Juliette al-Mir and had three daughters with her.

Antoun Saadeh returned to Lebanon on 2 March 1947, following the country's independence from France.

The revolt was suppressed and Antoun Saadeh travelled to Damascus to meet with Husni al-Za'im, the President of Syria at the time, who had previously agreed to support him.

Antoun Saadeh's execution took place at the dawn of 8 July 1949.

Antoun Saadeh's party continued to be active after his death.

Antoun Saadeh's party supported the President of Lebanon Camille Chamoun during the 1958 Lebanon crisis.

However, according to Haytham, Antoun Saadeh stated that European fascism didn't influence him.

Antoun Saadeh rejected both language and religion as defining characteristics of a nation and argued that nations develop through the common development of people inhabiting a specific geographical region.

Antoun Saadeh argued that Syria was historically, culturally, and geographically distinct from the rest of the Arab world, which he divided into four parts.

Antoun Saadeh traced Syrian history as a distinct entity back to the Phoenicians, Canaanites, Assyrians, Babylonians etc.

Antoun Saadeh himself denied these claims of alleged National Socialist and Fascist ideology of his party.