Émile Lahoud اميل لحود OM ONC |
|
---|---|
10th President of Lebanon | |
In office 24 November 1998 – 24 November 2007 |
|
Prime Minister |
Rafic Hariri Selim Hoss Rafic Hariri Omar Karami Najib Mikati Fouad Siniora |
Preceded by | Elias Hrawi |
Succeeded by | Fouad Siniora (Acting) |
Personal details | |
Born |
Baabdat, Greater Lebanon |
12 January 1936
Political party | Independent |
Height | 166 cm (5 ft 5 in) |
Alma mater |
Britannia Royal Naval College Naval War College |
Religion | Maronite Church |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Lebanon |
Service/branch |
Lebanese Navy Lebanese Army |
Years of service | 1956–1980 (Navy) 1980–1998 (Army) |
Rank | General |
Commands | Commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces |
Battles/wars | Lebanese Civil War |
Émile Jamil Lahoud (Arabic: اميل جميل لحود) (born 12 January 1936) is a Lebanese politician who was President of Lebanon from 1998 to 2007.
Emile Lahoud was born in Baabdat on 12 January 1936. However, his birthplace is given as Beirut by the Armed Forces. He is the youngest son of General Jamil Lahoud. His mother, Andrenee Bajakian, is of Armenian descent from the Armenian-populated village of Kesab in Syria. Lahoud’s older brother, Nasri Lahoud, was a judge who served as the military prosecutor general. Emile Lahoud is the nephew of Salim Lahoud who served as Lebanese foreign minister from 1955 to 1957.
Emile Lahoud is the great-grandson of Takouhi Kalebjian and Minas Sagerian on his maternal side who were from Adabazar, Ottoman Empire (now Adapazari, Republic of Turkey). Adabazar is located about 50 miles (80 kilometers) outside Istanbul on the Black Sea. Both Minas and Takouhi were massacred during the Armenian Genocide which occurred under the rule of the Ottoman Empire during World War I.
Lahoud received his elementary education at the Collège de La Sagesse in Beirut and his secondary education at Brummana High School in north Metn. He entered the military academy as a naval cadet in 1956 and studied there for one year. He then attended Dartmouth Naval College in the United Kingdom. He returned to the Lebanese military academy and graduated later as an ensign. In 1986, he took a navy engineering course at the Naval Engineering Academy in the United Kingdom. As a captain, he attended the U.S. Naval War College, in Newport, Rhode Island, graduating in 1973.