Maarouf Saad
| Maarouf Saad معروف سعد |
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| Member of Parliament (representing Sidon) | |
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In office 1957–1975 |
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| Succeeded by | Nazih al-Bizri |
| Secretary-General of Popular Nasserite Organization | |
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In office 1973–1975 |
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| Preceded by | Post established |
| Succeeded by | Mustafa Saad |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1910 or 1914 Sidon, Lebanon |
| Died | 6 March 1975 Sidon, Lebanon |
| Nationality | Lebanese |
| Political party | Popular Nasserite Organization |
Maarouf Saad (Arabic: معروف سعد) (1910 or 1914–6 March 1975) was a Lebanese politician and activist. He served as Sidon's representative in the Parliament of Lebanon between 1957 and 1972. He founded the Popular Nasserite Organization in 1973. Saad was known to have a charismatic and populist relationship with the residents of Sidon and the adjacent Palestinian refugee camps, according to historian Samir Khalaf. Nonetheless, tensions developed between Saad and the Palestine Liberation Organization in the 1970s as they competed for influence in Sidon. Saad's assassination sparked the Lebanese Civil War, and he is considered by many historians the conflict's first casualty.
Saad was born to a Sunni Muslim family in Sidon in 1910 or 1914. Unlike most of his political colleagues and rivals, Saad hailed from modest origins. According to the Maarouf Saad Cultural Center, he received his primary education at the Sidon Evangelical School and attended the Universal College of Aley, graduating in 1929. In 1930, he became a teacher, working in Lebanon, Palestine and Syria between then and 1936.
That year, he took part in organizing Palestinian Arab rebel activity in the revolt against the British authorities in Palestine. However, according to historian Samir Khalaf, when Saad left Lebanon to volunteer with the rebels in 1936, it was during the middle of his secondary schooling, not before he graduated. He served with Abd al-Rahim al-Hajj Muhammad's fasa'il (guerrilla unit). He was imprisoned by the British authorities and released in 1937. On his return to Lebanon, he helped organize activity against the French authorities in the country. He was consequently jailed in 1940, and released in 1944 (according to the MSCC) or 1945 (according to Khalaf). In 1945, he became a protege of the nationalist leader Riad al-Solh.
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