Prime Minister Abdullah bin Aref bin Abdul Ghani Al Yafi
He was born in 1901. His father was Aref Al-Yafi, who worked as an inspector in the port of Beirut. He studied at the Ottoman College and graduated from the Faculty of Law at the Jesuit Fathers College in 1923.
He then moved to Paris and obtained a doctorate in law from the Sorbonne University in 1926, becoming the first Lebanese Muslim to obtain this degree. In 1930, he was appointed president of the Syrian Arab Association in Paris.
King Faisal Al Saud receiving President Abdullah Al-Yafi
In 1936, Abdullah al-Yafi participated in the Coastal Conference at the home of Salim Ali Salam in al-Musaybah, Beirut, calling for the unity of Syria and Lebanon. President Abdullah al-Yafi combined parliamentary representation with the premiership for thirty years, from 1938 to 1968, during which time he formed the government ten times.
Abdullah Al-Yafi
Abdullah al-Yafi represented Lebanon at the Alexandria Conference in 1944, which established the Arab League, and at the San Francisco Conference in 1945, which drafted the United Nations Charter. He founded the newspaper Al-Siyasa in 1945, which continued publication for five years. In 1951, while serving as Prime Minister of Lebanon, President Riad al-Solh was assassinated by international forces.
President Fawzi Selu and President Abdullah Al-Yafi – Beirut 1952
From right: Abdullah al-Yafi – President Riad al-Solh – Lebanese President Bechara El Khoury – President al-Quwatli – Lebanese leader Habib Abu Shahla (Minister of Education) – Foreign Minister Henri Pharaon
