Personal Details
Born in Bsharri, Lebanon, as the daughter of Nagib Issa El-Khouri and Evelyne Roch. Her father was the scion of a prominent Maronite Christian family and a relative of Bechara El Khoury, Lebanon's first post-Independence President. She was educated at the Ecole des Franciscaines Missionnaires de Marie, Rue du Musee, a Catholic school, and subsequently graduated from Saint Joseph's University with a B.A. degree in French Literature and History. She later studied English at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom.
From 1962 to 1965, Moawad worked as a journalist for the daily newspaper, L'Orient. In 1965, she surprised many people by marrying René Moawad, the scion of a rival clan who was fifteen years her senior. Despite the disparity in their ages, and despite the traditional antagonism between their families, the marriage was a happy one and produced two children. Rima, now a lawyer and a graduate of Harvard University was born in 1966, and Michel, now a lawyer and businessman who graduated from Sorbonne University in Paris, followed in 1972.
Moawad has sought to perpuate her slain husband's legacy by founding the René Moawad Foundation (in 1990), which works for social justice and economic development in Lebanon and the Arab world. Since 1994, she has served as President of the Center for Research and Education on Democracy.
Read more about this topic: Nayla Moawad
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