Adel Osseiran (; 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.
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).
Background and family life
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. 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."
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: the late Abdallah, the MP Ali Osseiran, and five daughters: Zhour, Afaf, Samia, Zeina, and Leila. 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.
Health problems
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.
Political career
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.