Fares al-Khoury

Who was Fares al-Khoury?

Faris al-Khoury was a Syrian Christian statesman, minister, Prime Minister, speaker of Parliament, and Godfather of modern Syrian politics; born in Hasbaya in today's modern Lebanon. Faris Khoury went on to become Prime minister of Syria from 14 October 1944 to 1 October 1945 and from October 1954 to 13 February 1955. Khoury's ascension to the upper echelons of Syrian politics is remarkable, in light of the fact that he was Christian. Faris Koury's position as Prime Minister is, till this day, the highest political position a Syrian Christian has ever reached. Khoury's electoral popularity was due in part to his staunch secularist and nationalist policies. As a die-hard Syrian nationalist, Khoury never compromised on his principles and was resolutely against pan-Arabism and the ill-fated union between Syria and Egypt. Khoury opposed the short-lived union between Nasser's Egypt and republican Syria, the United Arab Republic. Through it all Faris Khoury served his country for almost 50 years. He was the grandfather of noted Syrian novelist Colette Khoury.