Dory Chamoun (; born 8 November 1931) is a Lebanese politician who led the National Liberal Party (NLP) from 25 May 1991 till 10 April 2021, when he was succeeded by his son Camille Dory Chamoun who became an MP in the 2022 Lebanese general election. He is also a prominent member of the Qornet Shehwan Gathering, a coalition of politicians, academics, and businessmen who oppose the pro-Syrian March 8 Alliance and Syrian influence in Lebanon. He is the eldest son of late Lebanese president Camille Chamoun and brother of Dany Chamoun.

Early life

Dory Chamoun is the elder son of the late Camille Chamoun (1900–1987), who was President of Lebanon from 1952 to 1958. An industrialist by profession, he initially showed much less interest in politics than his younger brother, Dany Chamoun. During the Lebanese Civil War, Dory briefly replaced his brother Dany as commander of the NLP's military wing, the Tigers Militia, between July–August 1980, prior to its disbandment by order of their father following the Safra massacre perpetrated by the Lebanese Forces (LF) led by Bachir Gemayel, which eliminated the backbone of the NLP militia and incorporated the rest into the LF structure.

Political career

After Dany was assassinated in October 1990, in what is qualified as an "unfair trial" by several organizations such as Amnesty International, Samir Geagea, the Christian leader of the Lebanese Forces, was subsequently tried for the murder. The fairness of the trial was challenged by Dory who declared publicly on 25 April 2005 that he believed Geagea to be innocent and demanded a new investigation to uncover the real assassins, whom he suspected of being Syrian agents.

On 27 January 2006, Dory Chamoun announced his candidacy for the vacated Maronite seat in Lebanon's Baabda-Aley by-election alongside reporter May Chidiac who was also running for the same post. However, the seat went to Pierre Daccache, whom most of Lebanon's Christian parties accepted as a consensus candidate.

On 8 June 2009, Dory Chamoun was elected member of parliament for the Maronite seat in the Shouf area.

Personal life

On 2 November 2012, Dory Chamoun suffered a heart attack. He was transferred to St.Charles Hospital at Fiyadieh whereby he underwent an angioplasty surgery.

On 5 March 2013, Dory Chamoun's wife Nayla Gabriel Tabet died. She was 78. His eldest son, Camille Dory, is also politically active and was an unsuccessful parliamentary candidate in the general election held in May and June 2005. He is currently an MP after succeeding in the 2022 Lebanese general election.

See also

  • Cedar Revolution
  • National Liberal Party
  • Tigers Militia
  • Lebanese Civil War

References

Bibliography

  • Afaf Sabeh McGowan, John Roberts, As'ad Abu Khalil, and Robert Scott Mason, Lebanon: a country study, area handbook series, Headquarters, Department of the Army (DA Pam 550-24), Washington D.C. 1989. - [https://cdn.loc.gov/master/frd/frdcstdy/le/lebanoncountryst00coll/lebanoncountryst00coll.pdf]
  • Alain Menargues, Les Secrets de la guerre du Liban: Du coup d'état de Béchir Gémayel aux massacres des camps palestiniens, Albin Michel, Paris 2004. (in French)
  • Claire Hoy and Victor Ostrovsky, By Way of Deception: The Making and Unmaking of a Mossad Officer, St. Martin's Press, New York 1990.
  • David Gilmour, Palestine: The Fractured Country, Sphere Books, 1984 (2nd edition, 1987). , 0747400741
  • Edgar O'Ballance, Civil War in Lebanon, 1975-92, Palgrave Macmillan, London 1998.
  • Matthew S. Gordon, The Gemayels (World Leaders Past & Present), Chelsea House Publishers, 1988.
  • Samuel M. Katz, Lee E. Russel, and Ron Volstad, Armies in Lebanon 1982-84, Men-at-arms series 165, Osprey Publishing Ltd, London 1985.
  • Tom Najem and Roy C. Amore, Historical Dictionary of Lebanon, Second Edition, Historical Dictionaries of Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Lanham, Boulder, New York & London 2021. , 1538120437
  • Interview with Dory Chamoun. Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, Vol. 4, No. 11, November–December, 2002. Retrieved on 2007-11-01.
  • NLP Official Website