Leila Al Solh
{{Short description|Lebanese politician (born 1946)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox person
|image =
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|birth_name =
|birth_date = {{birth year and age|1946}}
|birth_place = Beirut, Lebanon
|nationality = Lebanese
|alma_mater = Saint Joseph University
|occupation =
|years_active =
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|spouse = Majid Hamadeh
|children =
|parents = {{ubl|Riad Al Solh (father)| Fayza Al Jabiri (mother)}}
|signature =
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}}
Leila Al Solh ({{langx|ar|ليلى الصلح}}; born 1946) is the vice president of Alwaleed bin Talal Humanitarian Foundation and a former Lebanese minister of industry.
Early life and education
Born in Beirut in 1946, Leila Al Solh is the youngest daughter of the late former Lebanese Prime Minister Riad Al Solh, and his Syrian wife Fayza Al Jabiri.{{cite news|title=Leila Al Solh|access-date=15 July 2012
|url=http://www.arabianbusiness.com/100-most-powerful-arab-women-2012-448295.html?view=profile&itemid=448194|work=Arabian Business|year=2012}}{{Cite web|title=UF Digital Collections|url=https://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00011655/00001|access-date=15 December 2023|website=ufdc.ufl.edu}} Leila Al Solh is the aunt of Al Waleed bin Talal.{{cite web|title=The Republic of Lebanon
|url=http://www.guide2womenleaders.com/Lebanon.htm|work=Worldwide Guide to Women in Leadership|access-date=5 October 2012}}{{cite news
|title=Karami unveils final Cabinet lineup|url=http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/Oct/27/Karami-unveils-final-Cabinet-lineup.ashx#axzz2NbofFgrl|access-date=15 March 2013|newspaper=The Daily Star|date=27 October 2004|author1=Nada Raad|author2=Nafez Kawas|location=Beirut}}
Leila Al Solh studied at the department of oriental studies of Saint Joseph University, Beirut.{{cite web|title=Vice President of Alwaleed bin Talal Humanitarian Foundation|url=http://www.alwaleedfoundations.org/about/board-of-directors/management-team/leila-riad-el-solh|work=Alwaleed Foundation|access-date=12 July 2012|archive-date=21 June 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120621031207/http://www.alwaleedfoundations.org/about/board-of-directors/management-team/leila-riad-el-solh}}
Career
Leila Al Solh served as the minister of industry in the cabinet led by Prime Minister Omar Karami from 2004 to 2005,{{cite book|author=Rola el Husseini|title=Pax Syriana: Elite Politics in Postwar Lebanon|page=250|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zgl6DgAVzWMC&pg=PA250|year=2012|publisher=Syracuse University Press
|location=Syracuse, NY|isbn=978-0-8156-3304-4}} making her one of the early woman ministers in Lebanon.{{cite book|author=David S. Sorenson|title=Global Security Watch—Lebanon: A Reference Handbook|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L7fr8WGPS_gC&pg=PA88|year=2009
|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-36579-9|page=88|location=Santa Barbara, CA}} Al Solh is the vice president of Alwaleed bin Talal Humanitarian Foundation in Lebanon since its establishment in August 2003. Under her management, the foundation realized many activities to support for education, health and social organisations throughout the country.
=Political views=
Leila Al Solh published an article in the Lebanese daily An Nahar on 20 March 2001, criticising the Syrian government.{{cite journal|author=William Harris|title=Bashar al-Assad's Lebanon Gamble|journal=Middle East Quarterly|date=Summer 2005|volume=XII|issue=3
|pages=33–44|url=http://www.meforum.org/730/bashar-al-assads-lebanon-gamble}} She argued that Bashar al-Assad shares his father's (Hafez al-Assad's) ambition to control Lebanon. She further claimed that the differences between Bashar and Hafez al-Assad are that Bashar al-Assad is much more interested in "the investments of Lebanon's tycoons" than the land of Lebanon itself and that he attempts to eliminate foreign criticism by changing the locus of Syrian control from the "army to the [security] agencies."{{cite journal
|author=Gary C. Gambill|author2=Daniel Nassif|title=Syria's Campaign to Silence Lebanese Muslims|journal=Middle East Intelligence Bulletin
|date=April 2001|volume=3|issue=4|url=http://www.meforum.org/meib/articles/0104_l1.htm}} On the other hand, Solh announced her support for the extension of president Emile Lahoud's term in 2004.{{cite news|title=Hezbollah ignored as Lebanon's top three leaders get major government shares|url=http://www.lebanonwire.com/0410/04102702LW.asp|access-date=25 March 2013|work=Lebanonwire|date=27 October 2004|archive-date=21 March 2013|df=dmy-all|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130321231112/http://lebanonwire.com/0410/04102702LW.asp}}
=Publications=
Awards
On 12 March 2008, Leila Al Solh was awarded the Pontifical Medal by Pope Benedict XVI for the efforts of the Alwaleed bin Talal Humanitarian Foundation to encourage religious tolerance.{{cite news
|title=Pope Benedict XVI Awards Alwaleed bin Talal Humanitarian Foundation in Lebanon & Ms. Leila El Solh, Vice Chairman of the Foundation Pontifical Medal at Vatican|access-date=15 July 2012|work=Zawya
|url=http://www.zawya.com/story/ZAWYA20080314122600/|date=14 March 2008}}
Al Solh has been regarded as one of the most powerful women in the Middle East. She was named as one of the most powerful three women in 2008.{{cite encyclopedia|title=Leila Al Solh Hamadeh|url=http://www.fanoos.com/society/leila_al_solh_hamadeh.html|encyclopedia=Fanoos Encyclopedia|access-date=12 July 2012}} She was considered to be the 4th most powerful woman among 100 Arab women in 2011.{{cite news|title=Leila Al Solh|url=http://www.arabianbusiness.com/100-most-powerful-arab-women-2011-384182.html?view=profile&itemid=383758
|access-date=15 July 2012|work=Arabian Business|year=2011}} In 2012, she was nominated by Arabian Business as the 17th most powerful woman among 100 Arab women. She was named as the world's most influential 39th Arab in 2012 by Arabian Business.{{cite news|title=Leila El Solh|url=http://power500.arabianbusiness.com/power-500-2012/profile/15256/|access-date=25 August 2012|work=Arabian Business|year=2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120618173210/http://power500.arabianbusiness.com/power-500-2012/profile/15256/|archive-date=18 June 2012|url-status=dead}}
In 2009, Al Solh was awarded with an honorary doctorate from the American University of Science and Technology.
Personal life
Leila Al Solh was married to former Lebanese education minister Majid Hamadeh. She has two daughters and one son.{{cite news|author=Bassam Za'Za|title='Responsibility is going to be a tough challenge'|url=https://gulfnews.com/world/mena/responsibility-is-going-to-be-a-tough-challenge-1.336994|access-date=27 October 2021|work=Gulf News}} One of her daughters, Haya Majid Hamadeh, graduated from the faculty of medicine at American University of Beirut in 2005.{{cite web|title=AUB in the news|work=American University of Beirut
|url=http://staff.aub.edu.lb/~webinfo/inthnews/local%20news/july05.html|access-date=15 July 2012|archive-date=1 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100901052657/http://staff.aub.edu.lb/~webinfo/inthnews/local%20news/july05.html|url-status=dead}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{s-start}}
{{s-bef|before=Elias Skaff}}
{{s-ttl|title=Minister of Industry|years=2004 – 2005}}
{{s-aft|after=Bassam Yammine}}
{{end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Solh, Leila}}
Category:21st-century Lebanese women politicians
Category:21st-century Lebanese politicians
Category:Industry ministers of Lebanon
Category:Independent politicians in Lebanon
Category:Politicians from Beirut
Category:Saint Joseph University alumni
Category:Women government ministers of Lebanon