21 Facts About Ghassan Tueni

Ghassan Tueni was a Lebanese journalist, politician and diplomat who headed An Nahar, one of the Arab world's leading newspapers.

Ghassan Tueni was the son of Gebran Tueni, the founder and publisher of the daily newspaper An Nahar.

Ghassan Tueni joined the Syrian Social Nationalist Party founded by Antoun Saadeh in the early 1940s.

Ghassan Tueni made a swift comeback to the SSNP after its party leader was summoned and executed in a trial that took less than twenty four hours by the Lebanese authorities in 1949.

The execution prompted Ghassan Tueni to write a front-page column in the Nahar newspaper where he hailed Saadeh as a national hero forsaking his life for the national cause and condemning the execution.

In 1952, Ghassan Tueni was appointed by the SSNP leadership to represent the party in the Popular Socialist Front led by Kamal Jumblatt which forced the resignation of Lebanese president Bechara El Khoury.

Ghassan Tueni studied at the International College and then, at the American University of Beirut under Charles Malik who was influential in the development of his thoughts.

Ghassan Tueni received a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from the American University of Beirut in 1945.

Ghassan Tueni then went to the United States to study at Harvard University where he received his master's degree in government.

Ghassan Tueni became editor-in-chief and publisher of the paper from 1947 to 1999, and from 2003 until his death.

Ghassan Tueni was imprisoned in the 1940s for his objections to censorship.

Ghassan Tueni became a member of parliament in 1951, at age 25.

Ghassan Tueni served as Lebanon's permanent representative to the United Nations from September 1977 to September 1982, at the peak of the civil war.

Ghassan Tueni described the 1989 Taif Agreement as the peace of the others.

Ghassan Tueni married Nadia Hamadeh in 1954 who died in 1983 after battling cancer for several years.

Ghassan Tueni was predeceased by all three of his children.

Ghassan Tueni published another book, Enterrer La Haine Et La Vengeance, in 2009, which he dedicated to his late son Gebran.

In December 2009, Ghassan Tueni was given the Lebanese Order of Merit for his achievements in politics.

Ghassan Tueni died on 8 June 2012 after a long illness at age 86; he spent the last month of his life at the American University of Beirut Medical Center, in Beirut.

Ghassan Tueni was survived by his second wife, Shadia al Khazen and four granddaughters.

Ghassan Tueni's funeral was held in Beirut on 9 June 2012.