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On June 8th 2012, Lebanon lost one of its most
prominent citizens and its renown ‘Dean of
Journalists’. And IC lost one its most outstanding
alumni. If anyone had told Ghassan Tuéni when
still in his early years at IC that he would grow to
become of the country’s most influential leaders, he
probably wouldn’t have believed it.
Born in 1926, the young Tuéni, was destined to a
life of leadership.
Never a great student sciences or math, he was
passionate about literature, history and poetry. In
one challenging chemistry exam, Tuéni decided
to transfer chemistry formulas into poetry.The
teacher was not pleased and Tuéni was forced to
leave IC for one year and return the following year
to finish his Baccalaureate II, Philosophy section.
By the time he was in secondary school, Tuéni
was showing definite signs of rebellious leader-
ship qualities. One of his own fondest memories
was when he once convinced the class to present
a petition to remove a teacher because they could
not understand his lectures or interact with him.
The class succeeded but soon after realized that the
joke was on them: the new replacement teacher
doggedly insisted on a quiz at the beginning of
every class.
Tuéni was showing definite signs of journalistic tal-
ents when he founded a school publication. At the
beginning, he handwrote the articles and displayed
them on a bulletin board. He also distributed
copies to students. He finally offered to print the
articles at his father’s newspaper press and so it was
that Al-Ibtidayah was printed and sold to students.
Tuéni graduated from IC in 1943. He went on
the AUB where he received his BA in Philosophy
and an MA in Political Science from Harvard in
1947. He cut short his PhD studies and returned
to Lebanon when his father died to take over the
family’s newspaper business.
In 1948 – at the height of regional political turmoil
around him – Tuéni became the Editor-in Chief
and Publisher of the AnNahar newspaper.The next
sixty-four years would be marked by elations and
tragedies which repeatedly tested Tuéni’s resilience.
At the forefront of a political and journalism
career, Tuéni’s fiercely independent character
frequently came through many times whether
as young parliamentarian inspiring a spirit of
renewal in the country or as Minister of Educa-
tion resigning in protest, or even as the ambassador
of Lebanon to the UN when he exclaimed: “Let
my people live! My country is not for hire nor for
sale!” in an effort to get resolution 425 adopted by
the Security Council.
As an avid believer in the Arab identity, he took
part the foundation of the first Arabic University
of Law, Political Sciences and Economy in 1950.
A recognized intellectual, he published numerous
works including The Beirut Spring and Allow my
people to live: Lebanon to the UN.
To all, Tuéni seemed to have it all: a prosperous
career, a prominent position in society and a loving
family: his poet wife, Nadia and three children: a
girl and two boys. Nayla, Gebran and Makram.
(Gebran also graduated from IC in 1976).
But in a series of horrific tragedies, Tuéni lost
his entire family. In 1963, Nayla died at the age
of eight. In 1983, Nadia succumbed to cancer. In
1987, Makram, 21, was killed in a car accident. And
in 2005, Gebran – who had taken over the publish-
ing of the AnNahar newspaper was assassinated.
It was enough to destroy any man but Tuéni
refused to bow to tragedies and at the age of 80
became the Deputy of Beirut to take over the torch
of freedom previously held by his son.
The loss of our ‘Dean of Journalists’
34
SUMMER
2012
In Memoriam