Adel Osseiran

Historians have established that the Osseirans rose to prominence and power as grain merchants in Sidon and the Jabal Amel region of modern-day Southern Lebanon soon after the Ottoman Empire assumed control over the area in 1516: "Having arrived some time in the sixteenth or seventeenth century and built up significant wealth from mercantile activities, they were eventually appointed consuls for Iran. As consuls they, and their employees, were exempt from Ottoman military service and were levied a lower tax on their goods. This allowed them to build their wealth more rapidly and to gather a greater supporter base in Saida and Zahrani (where they owned land) due to the privileges accorded their employees."

Adel Osseiran (عادل عسيران; 5 June 1905 – 18 June 1998), also transliterated Adil 'Usayran or Adil Osseyran, was a prominent Lebanese statesman, a former Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, and one of the founding fathers of the Lebanese Republic.

Born on 5 June 1905 to Abdallah Ali Effendi Osseiran and Zahra Al Hajj Hassan Osseiran, Adel was his parents' only son, followed by three sisters.

His father died of the Typhus epidemic in 1917 when Adel was 12 years old, and he was raised by his mother and paternal uncles.

Adel Osseiran received his early education at the French Missionary Elementary School (Les Frères) operated by De La Salle Brothers in Sidon, and completed his secondary education at the International College (IC) in Beirut.

He then pursued his higher studies at the American University of Beirut, graduating with a degree in History and Politics in 1928.

He returned to his alma mater to do an MA in political science, graduating in 1936.

During the interval, he had also begun a law degree at the Saint Joseph University (USJ) but did not complete it.

A powerful orator in Classical Arabic, he was also fluent in English and French.

In 1936 he married Souad Al Hajj Ismail Al-Khalil, by whom he had seven children: Abdullah, Ali, and five daughters: Zhour, Afaf, Samia, Zeina, and Leila.

Adel Osseiran began his political career in 1936 right after his graduation when, alongside various dignitaries from Southern Lebanon (Jabal Amil), he began to campaign for the abolition of the tax that the French mandatory authorities were levying on agricultural land, particularly on tobacco farmers.

After being arrested for making a fiery speech, he was taken to court and assigned a lawyer.

However, he rejected all manner of legal counsel and undertook his own defense, turning it into a vigorous and spirited attack on the wrongdoings of the French mandatory authorities, as he saw them.

In the same year, he founded the Arab Youth Party which called for the unity of Lebanon's youth under the banner of modern education, civic service, and the strengthening of national unity.

The party, however, eventually became non-operational due to lack of funding and other reasons.

In 1937 Adel Osseiran ran for the Lebanese parliament for the first time, and was the first candidate in the history of Lebanon to have a proper campaign platform.

He was, however, opposed by the French and their allies, and lost the election.

Adel Osseiran played a significant role at various points in the history of modern Lebanon, such as the struggle for independence (1943), the mini-civil war of 1958, and the Lausanne Conference for Peace (1984).

The Osseiran family traces its Shia origins to what is now Iraq and there to the tribe of the Bani Asad, which fought alongside Husayn ibn Ali at Karbala in 680.

After their defeat the survivors suffered persecution and after an unknown period of time one of the tribal members - Haidar - reportedly fled to Baalbek, where he had two sons: Ali and Osseiran.

According to the family's historiography, the latter settled in Sidon/Saida.

In 1943 Osseiran was elected to the Lebanese parliament for the first time, a victory that proved to be the beginning of a long parliamentary career that ended only with his retirement from politics in 1992.

1943 was a landmark year in the history of modern Lebanon.

The new President Bechara El Khoury, PM Riad Al Solh, along with the rest of the cabinet of which Adel Osseiran was a member, proceeded to abolish the articles of the constitution that tied Lebanon to the French Mandate.

Upon their doing so the French High Commissioner had the President, the Prime Minister, and the Cabinet members arrested and imprisoned in the Citadel of Rashaya.

After the public outcry that occurred, with protests taking place all over the country, in addition to Anglo-American support, the French were compelled to release the cabinet members and recognize the independence of Lebanon.

Adel Osseiran was the first person to hoist the new Lebanese flag over the town hall of Sidon.

He won every election after that with the exception of two (1951 and 1964).

Adel Osseiran was voted Speaker of the Parliament of Lebanon on August 13, 1953, and held that post until October 15, 1959.

During the mini-Civil War of 1958 he played a significant role in ending the riots and disturbances and securing the election of General Fouad Chehab as President of the Republic.

He did so by calling Parliament into session to elect the new president, despite pressure not to do so from then President Camille Chamoun.

Earlier on, he had angered President Chamoun by vocally opposing the landing of the US Marines in Lebanon, and lodging a formal protest on the subject with the UN Secretary General in New York as well as with US President Dwight Eisenhower in Washington, DC.

His daughter Leila married Iraqi politician Ahmed Chalabi in 1971; they had four children.

Souad Al Khalil Osseiran was an educated woman by the standards of her time, and was also a part-time painter.

The marriage was a love match.

An active and athletic man for much of his life, in later life Adel Osseiran developed serious health problems, not the least of which was his tremor.

According to popular belief he had Parkinson's Disease, but in fact, he suffered from a more obscure malady known as Essential Tremor.

This hereditary disease made it difficult for him to pursue the activities of his daily life, although his mind remained sharp.

Abdullah Osseiran was killed in Sidon on 22 December 1972.

Until 2004 he held the record for the longest serving member of Parliament in Lebanon's history.