FRANJIYYA FAMILY

Prominent political family of Lebanon.

The Franjiyyas (also Frangiehs) are Maronite Christians from Zgharta, in northern Lebanon, who have dominated the region politically. Several of their members became important politicians in the twentieth century. Hamid (1907/1908?–1981), the elder brother of Sulayman Franjiyya, was the family's initial political leader who became a long-time parliamentarian and government minister, beginning in the late 1930s, until he suffered a stroke in 1957. Tony (Antoine; 1942–1978) was the only son and heir apparent of Sulayman. He headed the family's al-Marada militia and served as a government minister from 1973 to 1975. The Franjiyyas opposed the Phalange party's Bashir Jumayyil and his attempt to control all Christian militias in Lebanon. As a result, Jumayyil's forces attacked Tony's home in Ihdin in May 1978, killing him, his wife, his infant daughter, and over two dozen other people. Sulayman (1964–). Tony's son first expressed political ambitions as a youth in the mid-1980s. In 1990, he took control of the al-Marada from his uncle Robert. He became the family's political patriarch upon his grandfather's death in 1992. Sulayman first served in the parliament in 1991 and has served in several cabinet positions beginning in 1990.

See also Franjiyya, Sulayman; Jumayyil, Bashir; Phalange.

Bibliography

Hudson, Michael C. The Precarious Republic: Political Modernization in Lebanon. New York: Random House, 1968.

Salibi, Kamal S. Crossroads to Civil War: Lebanon, 1958–1976. Delmar, NY: Caravan Books, 1976.

Michael R. Fischbach