Beirut MP Solange Gemayel

Place & Date of birth: Born in Beirut in 1951. Daughter of Dr. Louis Tutunji, a surgeon, and a founder of the Kataeb (Phalange Party)
Sect: Maronite.
Marital Background: A former First Lady of Lebanon, Solange was Married in March 1977 to former Lebanese President Bashir Gemayel who was assassinated in Beirut in an explosion that killed him 21 days after his election. Gemayel was killed along with twenty-five others in an explosion at the Kataeb headquarters in Achrafieh on September 14, 1982. Habib Tanious Shartouni, a member of the pro-Damascus National Syrian Socialist Party and an alleged agent for Syrian intelligence, confessed to the crime, but has not been apprehended. Elected president on August 23, 1982, Gemayel was assassinated 10 days before he was due to take office. Their daughter Maya, born in June 1978, was killed on February 13, 1980, along with three of Bashir's body guards, in a car bomb meant for her father. They have two surviving children: a daughter, Youmna (born in December 1982), who received her degree in political science in Paris, and is now working towards her Masters in Management at ESA (ةcole Superieur des Affairs) in Beirut, and a son, Nadim (born in May 1982), a law student and political activist. In 2003, Nadim attracted controversy when he went against virtually the entire political establishment by endorsing an antigovernment candidate (Free Patriotic Movement Candidate Hikmat Deeb) in  a crtical by-election in Baabda-Aley.
Educational Background: Solange studied commerce and nursing, but was more inclined to party work.
Political Background: Joining the Kataeb (Phalange) Party with her two brothers at an early age, Solagne climbed the Party ladder, beginning from the Students' Section, until she became one of Bashir's closest aides. On November 10, 1982, Bashir's bithdate, Solange founded the Bashir Gemayel Foundation, to keep his legacy alive.
Political Stances: Solange Gemayel strongly opposed the Syrian military occupation of Lebanon, and was an enemy of the Syrian-backed regime which took power in 1990. She is strongly pro-Western, and in 2003 she rattled the political establishment by publicly supporting U.S. President George W. Bush in his decision to attack Iraq and depose the government of Saddam Hussein. Hosting a formal dinner at her home in August 2003, she praised what she called America's "historic step" to "establish democracy, fight terrorism, make peace and give the people a taste of freedom." She also joined her son, Nadim, in endorsing Hikmat Deeb of the radical Free Patriotic Movement in an important by-election. This put her (and her son) at odds with her brother-in-law, former President Amine Gemayel, who endorsed the more moderate Henry Hélou. Hélou won, but by a much smaller margin than had been expected. In February 2005, Gemayel announced that she would be a candidate in the parliamentary election due to be held in May. She has since spoken at several major demonstrations against the Syrian occupation and the Syrian-backed government, in the wake of the 14 February assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Hariri's son, Saad Hariri announced on 16 May 2005 that Gemayel would contest the election as a member of a multiconfessional electoral ticket he had compiled. On 29 May 2005, Gemayel was elected to represent the same Beirut constituency once held for many years by her late father-in-law, Pierre Gemayel.
Curent Political Status: Solange was elected deputy for Beirut on May 29, 2005, on "Martyr Rafic Harirr Beirut Decicion List". But she instantly declared that she will operate independently. By succeeding, Solange regained the Maronite seat of Pierre Gemayel, her father-in-law, and is probably reserving a seat for her son Nadim.