Henri Philippe Pharaoun

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Henri Philippe Pharaoun (or Henry Pharaon) (1898 - August 6, 1993), was a Lebanese art collector and politician.

He was born the son of a wealthy Melkite Catholic merchant in Egypt. He was educated in Europe, and earned a degree in law. Probably the richest man in Lebanon during much of his lifetime, he helped to found independent Lebanon and designed the Lebanese flag. Known as a Mediterranianist who encouraged cooperation between Christians and Muslims, Pharaoun opposed the pan-Arabist intentions of Riad El-Solh and helped temper the power of the Arab League. He served in the Lebanese Parliament from 1943 to 1946, and then as the Lebanese foreign minister intermittently from 1945 to 1947. After this he retired from politics to focus on business interests. He was murdered in his bedroom in 1993.

His former Beirut residence is now the Robert Mouawad Museum, housing a collection of Arab, Greek and Byzantine antiquities.