:Riad Al Solh

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific_prefix = His Excellency

| name = Riad El Solh

| image = Riad-el-Solh.png

| office = Prime Minister of Lebanon

| president1 = Bechara El Khoury

| term_start1 = 25 September 1943

| term_end1 = 10 January 1945

| predecessor1 = Petro Trad

| successor1 = Abdul Hamid Karami

| president = Émile Eddé
Bechara El Khoury

| term_start = 14 December 1946

| term_end = 14 February 1951

| predecessor = Saadi Al Munla

| successor = Hussein Al Oweini

| office2 = Minister of Finance

| president2 = Bechara El Khoury

| primeminister2 = Himself

| term_start2 = 25 September 1943

| term_end2 = 10 January 1945

| predecessor2 = Position established

| successor2 = Hamid Franjieh

| birth_date = 17 August 1894

| birth_place = Sidon, Ottoman Empire

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1951|7|17|1894|8|17}}

| death_place = Amman, Jordan

| party = Committee of Union and Progress
(1916–1920)
Independent
(1920–1934)
Constitutional Bloc
(1934–1951)

| spouse = Fayza Al Jabiri

| children = Six daughters: Alia Al Solh, Lamia Al Solh, Muna Al Solh, Bahija Al Solh, Fadia Al Solh Leila Al Solh;

| alma_mater = University of Paris

| profession = Lawyer

| signature = توقيع رياض الصلح.svg

| caption = Solh in 1943

| native_name = {{Nobold|{{lang|ar|رياض الصلح}}}}

}}

Riad Al Solh ({{langx|ar|رياض الصلح}}; 17 August 1894 – 17 July 1951) was a Lebanese politician and statesman who served as the first and fifth prime minister of Lebanon from 1943 to 1945 and from 1946 to 1951, respectively.{{cite news|title=Riad al-Solh commemorated with launch of biography|url=http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/Mar/06/Riad-al-Solh-commemorated-with-launch-of-biography.ashx#axzz20RI6Uuqi|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130501232150/http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/Mar/06/Riad-al-Solh-commemorated-with-launch-of-biography.ashx#axzz20RI6Uuqi|url-status=dead|archive-date=1 May 2013|access-date=12 July 2012|newspaper=The Daily Star|date=6 March 2010}}{{cite journal | last = Mugraby | first = Muhamad | title = The syndrome of one-time exceptions and the drive to establish the proposed Hariri court | journal = Mediterranean Politics | volume = 13 | issue = 2 | pages = 171–194 | doi = 10.1080/13629390802127513 | date = July 2008 | s2cid = 153915546 }} [http://www.cggl.org/publicdocs/20080707.pdf Pdf.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012044649/http://www.cggl.org/publicdocs/20080707.pdf |date=12 October 2013 }}{{cite news|title=More than a century on: how Riad Al Solh's legacy lives on in Lebanon today|url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/more-than-a-century-on-how-riad-al-solh-s-legacy-lives-on-in-lebanon-today-1.899158|access-date=17 April 2021|newspaper=The National (Abu Dhabi)|date=17 August 2019}} Solh was one of the most important figures in Lebanon's struggle for independence, who was able to unite the various religious groups, and is considered to be one of the founders of Lebanon.

Early life

Riad Al Solh, also written Riad el Solh or Riad Solh, was born in Sidon, south Lebanon and of Egyptian origin, on 17 August 1894. His father, Reda Al Solh, was Vice-governor in Nabatiyyah and in Sidon and a leading nationalist Arab leader. In 1915 Reda Al Solh was tried by Ottoman forces and went into exile in Smyrna, Ottoman Empire. He also served as Minister of the Interior in Emir Faisal's government in Damascus.

Riad Al Solh studied law and political science at the University of Paris. He spent most of his youth in Istanbul, as his father was a deputy in the Ottoman Parliament.

Career

File:Riad al Solh statue.jpg's Downtown district]]

Solh served as prime minister of Lebanon twice. His first term was just after the Lebanon's independence (25 September 1943 – 10 January 1945).{{cite web|title=Rulers of Lebanon|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/arabs/lebrule.html|publisher=Jewish Virtual Library|access-date=13 December 2012}} Solh was chosen by president Bishara Al Khouri to be his first Prime Minister.{{cite journal|last=Türedi|first=Almula|title=Lebanon: at the edge of another civil war|journal=Perceptions|date=Spring–Summer 2008|pages=21–36|url=http://sam.gov.tr/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Almula-T%2B-redi.pdf|access-date=23 October 2012|archive-date=8 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161008030651/http://sam.gov.tr/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Almula-T%2B-redi.pdf|url-status=dead}} Solh and Khouri achieved and implemented the National Pact (al Mithaq al Watani) in November 1943 that provided an official framework to accommodate the confessional differences in Lebanon.{{Cite journal|last=Paksoy|first=Taylan|date=2025|title=The Myth of 'Zaim'/'Zuema': Revisiting 1950s Lebanese Elite Taxonomy and Circulation|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21520844.2025.2450867|journal=The Journal of the Middle East and Africa|volume=16|issue=1|pages=75–98|doi=10.1080/21520844.2025.2450867}}{{cite book|author=Leila Tarazi Fawaz|title=An Occasion for War: Civil Conflict in Lebanon and Damascus in 1860|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_nE7RjS91_E4C|access-date=23 October 2012|date=6 February 1995|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-08782-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_nE7RjS91_E4C/page/n238 222]}}{{cite book|author1=Philip G. Roeder|author2=Donald S. Rothchild|title=Sustainable Peace: Power And Democracy After Civil Wars|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FFGNRfzndl8C&pg=PA219|access-date=24 October 2012|year=2005|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=978-0-8014-8974-7|page=228}}{{cite journal|last=Hudson|first=Michael C.|title=Democracy and Social Mobilization in Lebanese Politics|journal=Comparative Politics|date=January 1969|volume=1|issue=2|pages=245–263|jstor=421387|doi=10.2307/421387}} The National Pact was an unwritten gentleman's agreement.{{cite book|author1=Vanessa E. Shields|author2=Nicholas Baldwin|title=Beyond Settlement: Making Peace Last After Civil Conflict|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x0fEXpAegzIC&pg=PA159|access-date=23 October 2012|year=2008|publisher=Associated University Presse|isbn=978-0-8386-4183-5|pages=159}} The Pact stated that president, prime minister and Speaker of the Parliament in Lebanon should be allocated to three major confessional groups based on the 1932 census, namely the Maronite Christians, the Sunni Muslims and the Shiite Muslims, respectively.{{Cite journal|last=Paksoy|first=Taylan|date=2025|title=The Myth of 'Zaim'/'Zuema': Revisiting 1950s Lebanese Elite Taxonomy and Circulation|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21520844.2025.2450867|journal=The Journal of the Middle East and Africa|volume=16|issue=1|pages=75–98|doi=10.1080/21520844.2025.2450867}} During his first term, Solh also served as the Minister of Finance from September 1943 to July 1944,{{Cite web|url=http://www.finance.gov.lb/en-us/About/Minister/Pages/Former-Ministers.aspx|title=Former Ministers|date=18 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218051220/http://www.finance.gov.lb/en-us/About/Minister/Pages/Former-Ministers.aspx|archive-date=18 December 2019}} and the minister of supplies and reserves from 3 July 1944 to 9 January 1945.{{cite web|title=Former Ministers|url=http://www.economy.gov.lb/index.php/aboutUs/2|publisher=Ministry of Economy and Trade|access-date=5 October 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130221083735/http://www.economy.gov.lb/index.php/aboutUs/2|archive-date=21 February 2013}}

Solh held premiership again from 14 December 1946 to 14 February 1951Kamil Dib, "Warlords and Merchants, The Lebanese Business and Political Establishment", p. 89 again under the presidency of Bishara Al Khouri.{{cite web|title=Political leaders of Lebanon|url=http://www.terra.es/personal2/monolith/lebanon.htm|publisher=Terra|access-date=23 October 2012}} Solh was critical of King Abdullah and played a significant role in granting the blessing of the Arab League's political committee to the All-Palestine Government during his second term.{{cite journal|last=Shlaim|first=Avi|title=The Rise and Fall of the All-Palestine Government in Gaza|journal=Journal of Palestine Studies|date=Autumn 1990|volume=20|issue=1|pages=37–53|jstor=2537321|doi=10.2307/2537321}}

Assassination

Solh escaped unhurt from an assassination attempt in March 1950.{{cite news|last=Kechichian|first=Joseph A.|title=Resolute fighter for freedom|url=http://gulfnews.com/about-gulf-news/al-nisr-portfolio/weekend-review/articles/resolute-fighter-for-freedom-1.41127|access-date=7 April 2013|newspaper=Gulf News|date=11 June 2009}}{{cite journal | last = Knudsen | first = Are | title = Acquiescence to assassinations in post-civil war Lebanon? | journal = Mediterranean Politics | volume = 15 | issue = 1 | pages = 1–23 | doi = 10.1080/13629391003644611 | date = March 2010 | s2cid = 154792218 }} It was perpetrated by a member of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP).

However, several months after leaving office, he was gunned down on 17 July 1951 at Marka Airport in Amman by members of the SSNP.{{cite book|author=R. Hrair Dekmejian|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MCVgiW9KDh8C&pg=PR5|title=Patterns of Political Leadership: Egypt, Israel, Lebanon|publisher=SUNY Press|year=1975|isbn=978-0-87395-291-0|page=34|access-date=21 October 2012}} The attack was perpetrated by three gunmen, who killed him in revenge for the execution of Anton Saadeh, one of the party's founding leaders.{{cite news|title=Six major leaders killed in Lebanon since 1943|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Z54kAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VvwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6416,234206&dq=ehden+massacre&hl=en|access-date=6 November 2012|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2 June 1987}}{{cite journal | last = Kliot | first = N. | title = The collapse of the Lebanese state | journal = Middle Eastern Studies | volume = 23 | issue = 1 | pages = 54–74 | doi = 10.1080/00263208708700688 | jstor = 4283154 | date = January 1987 }}{{cite book|author=Tim Llewellyn|title=Spirit of the Phoenix: Beirut and the Story of Lebanon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RYgrDkJsuTEC&pg=PR7|access-date=15 March 2013|date=1 June 2010|publisher=I.B.Tauris |isbn=978-1-84511-735-1 |pages= xiii}}

Personal life

He secretly converted to Shia Islam since, compared to Sunni Islam, its inheritance laws meant that his daughters, his only children, could inherit a greater share of his wealth.{{cite book|author1=Youssef Courbage|author2=Emmanuel Todd|author-link2=Emmanuel Todd|title=A Convergence of Civilizations: The Transformation of Muslim Societies Around the World|date=2014|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=9780231150033|page=31|edition=illustrated}}{{cite book|author1=Marie-Claude Thomas|title=Women in Lebanon: Living with Christianity, Islam, and Multiculturalism|date=2012|publisher=Springer|isbn=9781137281999|pages=147, 222|edition=illustrated}}

Al Solh was married to Fayza Al Jabiri, the sister of two-time prime minister of Syria, Saadallah al-Jabiri.[http://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00011655/00001 The Middle East enters the twenty-first century], By Robert Owen Freedman, Baltimore University 2002, page 218. They had five daughters and a son, Reda, who died in infancy. His eldest daughter, Aliya (1935–2007), continued in her father's path in the struggle for a free and secure Lebanon. {{fact|date=October 2024}}

Lamia Al Solh (born 1937) was married to the late Prince Moulay Abdallah of Morocco, King Mohammed VI's uncle.{{cite web | title=Video: Wedding of Prince Moulay Abdellah and Lamia Solh | website=moroccoworldnews.com| date=16 June 2015 | url=https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/06/161741/video-wedding-of-prince-moulay-abdellah-and-lamia-solh | access-date=1 December 2023}} Her children are Moulay Hicham, Moulay Ismail and a daughter Lalla Zineb.{{fact|date=October 2024}}

Mona Al Solh (-2025) was formerly married to the Saudi Prince Talal bin Abdulaziz.{{cite news|last=Henderson|first=Simon|title=The Billionaire Prince|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/08/27/the_billionaire_prince?page=0,1|access-date=21 October 2012|newspaper=Foreign Policy|date=27 August 2010|archive-date=13 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013024151/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/08/27/the_billionaire_prince?page=0,1|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|last=Moubayed|first=Sami|title=Lebanon cabinet: A tightrope act|url=http://www.lebanonwire.com/1102MLN/11020107GN.asp|access-date=7 April 2013|work=Lebanon Wire|date=1 February 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130323172008/http://lebanonwire.com/1102MLN/11020107GN.asp|archive-date=23 March 2013}} She is the mother of the Prince Al Waleed bin Talal, Prince Khalid bin Talal and Princess Reema bint Talal.{{cite book|author=Mamoun Fandy|title=(Un)civil War of Words: Media and Politics in the Arab World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5QfURgCJmekC&pg=PP7|access-date=21 October 2012|year=2007|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-275-99393-1|page=43}}

Bahija Al Solh Assad is married to Said Al Assad who is the former Lebanese ambassador to Switzerland and a former member of parliament. They have two sons and two daughters.{{fact|date=October 2024}}

His youngest daughter, Leila Al Solh Hamade, was appointed one of the first two female ministers in Omar Karami's government.{{cite web|title=Leila Al Solh|url=http://arab.wagggsworld.org/fr/grab/20465/1/keynotespeakerresume.pdf|publisher=World Association of girl guides and girl scoutes|access-date=12 July 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402134132/http://arab.wagggsworld.org/fr/grab/20465/1/keynotespeakerresume.pdf|archive-date=2 April 2015}}

Legacy

Patrick Seale's book The Struggle for Arab Independence (2011) deals with the history of the Middle East from the final years of the Ottoman Empire up to the 1950s and focuses on the influential career and personality of Solh.{{cite web|title=Interview with Patrick Seale|url=http://www.theglobaldispatches.com/articles/interview-with-patrick-seale|publisher=The Global Dispatches|access-date=22 July 2012|date=15 September 2011}} A square in downtown Beirut, Riad al-Solh Square,Young, M., The Ghosts of Martyrs Square: An Eyewitness Account of Lebanon's Life Struggle (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010), [https://archive.org/details/ghostsofmartyrss00youn_0/page/129 p. 129]. is named after him.{{cite news|title=The Killing Will Continue Until ,C*|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Killing+Will+Continue+Until+%2cC*.-a0306326090|access-date=28 March 2013|newspaper=Dar Al Hayat|date=25 October 2012}}