1. Michel Elefteriades is a Lebanese politician, artist, producer and entrepreneur.
26 Facts About Michel Elefteriades
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Michel Elefteriades is noted in the Arab world for his unorthodox beliefs and opinions, which have generated controversy and ignited passionate responses from his supporters and detractors alike.
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Michel Elefteriades studied Fine Arts and Advertising in Nantes, France, and holds a master's degree in Graphic Design and Communication Arts from the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts.
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Michel Elefteriades was declared a martyr and a saint of the Eastern Orthodox Church by the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece on 4 November 1992.
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Michel Elefteriades is an author and composer of more than 120 songs for such European and Arab artists as: Tony Hanna, Demis Roussos, Jean-Jacques Lafon, Nahawand, Hanine Y Son Cubano, Sebastien El Chato, Jose Galvez, Jose Fernandez, as well as a collective work featuring Saber Rebai, Moein Sharif, Wadih El Safi, and Mohamad el Mazem.
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Michel Elefteriades is considered an Arab pioneer of World Music fusion.
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Michel Elefteriades has directed a number of music videos, for such artists as Galvez, Demis Roussos, Tony Hanna, The Chehade Brothers, Hanine Y Son Cubano, Nahawand, Tania Saleh, Jose Fernandez, Abdel Karim Chaar, Yusra, Rom Bakhtale, Tino Favazza.
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Michel Elefteriades has directed documentaries about Tony Hanna and on the life of Nahawand.
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In 1999, Michel Elefteriades founded the "Mediterraneo Byblos International Festival", and was its director from 1999 to 2003.
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Michel Elefteriades wrote, composed and directed the 2004 "The Journey of Four Songs", a musical for the Baalbeck International Festival.
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Michel Elefteriades appeared as judge for two seasons on The X Factor, XSeer Al Najah, in 2006 and 2007, which earned him the sobriquet of "the Arabian Simon Cowell".
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In 2003, Michel Elefteriades founded the "Beirut Music Hall", an 800-seat venue specializing in a unique concept that made it a night-clubbing destination in the Middle East.
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In that same year Michel Elefteriades opened "MusicHall Waterfront" in Beirut, an open-air venue near Downtown Beirut's sea side.
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In 2018, Michel Elefteriades decided to invest again in Italy and he acquired from the noble Salviati family, the abandoned Roman church of San Procolo to make it an art gallery in which he would exhibit his medieval religious art collection and creations.
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In 2019, after Michel Elefteriades bought the church, the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage exercised his diritto de prelazione, due to the importance of this church, a premiere in the last decades.
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In January 2016, Michel Elefteriades has been summoned to the police station to testify in a case about a supposed sect of satanic worshipers.
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Michel Elefteriades is the author of two novels, one of which was banned in the Arab world.
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Michel Elefteriades has engaged in political activism from the age of 15.
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Michel Elefteriades was an extreme left-wing militant growing up in east Beirut.
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Michel Elefteriades was often involved in organizing general strikes designed to paralyze the country.
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Michel Elefteriades again left Lebanon, living in France and Cuba from 1994 until 1997.
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Michel Elefteriades was active in Lebanon's Cedar Revolution as he co-organized, in April 2005, a series of festivities to celebrate national unity, including a program of free concerts that took place in downtown Beirut under the heading of "Independence 05".
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On 8 October 2007, during a press conference commemorating Che Guevara's capture 40 years earlier, Michel Elefteriades launched a public campaign called "We Won't Pay Lebanon's Odious Debts".
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Michel Elefteriades is very often seen at military ceremonies and in army gatherings, as well as relentlessly defending the army on TV shows.
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In spring 2005, Michel Elefteriades co-organized a concert in Beirut, presenting some of the biggest names in Lebanese music: Nancy Ajram, Wadih El Safi, Myriam Fares, Ramy Ayach, Marwan Khoury, Amal Hijazi The entire proceeds of the event were forwarded, through the United Nations, to the southeast Asia tsunami victims.
26.
Michel Elefteriades envisioned a new social, philosophical, political and cultural approach in his 'founding' of a new nation he named "Nowheristan", which is dedicated to justice, liberation, and equality.