Background and education

Charles Debbas was born in Beirut^[1][2] to a prominent Greek Orthodox Beiruti family of Damascene origin.^[3] He was the son of Gerges Khalil Debbas (1845–1912) and Marie Salim Jbeili. His grandfather Khalil Debbas (1823–1885)'s brother was J. Abdo Debbas, who served as American vice-consul in Tarsus.

He was a pupil at the Collège des Jésuites.^[4] Having obtained his baccalaureate at fourteen and a half years old, he went to study law in Montpellier then in Paris.^[4] While he was a student, he met Marcelle Burgart (1892–1960), a nurse taking lessons at the Comédie française.^[5] The couple began to live in Beirut,^[5] Debbas working there as an attorney.^[4]

Early political involvement

While in Beirut, Debbas started to get involved in nationalist circles which had become increasingly active in Ottoman Syria since the Young Turk Revolution.^[4][5] He began to write articles in the Beirut-based French-language newspaper La Liberté ('Freedom') which had been founded in 1908 by Butrus Mansur Tayyan.^[6][5] One of his articles, "Le langage de l'ancien régime reviendrait-il en honneur ?" ('Could the old [i.e. Hamidian] regime's language be returning to honour?'), published 3 June 1909, was deemed subversive by the wali of Beirut, Edhem Bey, who warned him of further consequences should he continue to defend the ideas contained in it.^[7] Debbas responded in the press that he stood by what he had written and that the wali should submit the matter to court if he thought his article had infringed the law.^{[7][lower-alpha 2]} Debbas returned to Paris in 1913 as secretary of the Arab Congress.^[4] He became a member of the Central Syrian Committee during World War I.^[4] Debbas had returned to Paris on 5 October 1919,^[8] and got married with Burgart on 24 October in Neuilly-sur-Seine.^[1]

Administrative and political career

On 20 October 1920, Debbas was appointed Director of Judicial Services of Greater Lebanon by Robert de Caix, the Secretary General of the High Commissioner.

On 26 May 1926, three days after the adoption of the Lebanese constitution, Debbas was elected President of Lebanon by both Chambers of the Parliament reunited in a Congress, for a three-year term.^{[9][lower-alpha 3]} Quoting Dib, "to provide balance with the Maronite leadership, between 1926 and 1930, Debbas allowed Bechara al-Khouri and his nemesis Emile Éddé to take turns to act as prime ministers. Eventually, al-Khouri emerged as the stronger leader as he was backed by the Chihas and their millionaire cousins the Faraoun family."^[10]

Debbas was re-elected president on 23 March 1929^[11][9] by the Chamber of Deputies (which had become the sole organ of the legislative power per the constitutional amendment of 17 October 1927),^[9] by 42 votes out of 44, for another three years.^[9]

On 9 May 1932, High Commissioner Henri Ponsot suspended Lebanon's constitution and extended Debbas' second term by one year in reaction to the budget crisis and the possibility that a Muslim, Muhammad al-Jisr, might win the presidential election.^[12][13][14] On 2 January 1934, Debbas delivered a letter of resignation from his presidential functions;^[15] he was replaced by Habib Pacha Saad.^[16] Debbas became President of the Chamber of Deputies (Speaker) a few days later, and remained in that position until October;^[17] he was replaced by Petro Trad.

Death and funeral

Debbas sailed to France in April 1935 in order to stay there for six months^[18] but died on 22 August of that year, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 6 rue Piccini.^[2] A funeral service was held for him at the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Stephen^[19][20] in the presence of Henri Gouraud,^[20] François Pierre-Alype,^[20] Taj al-Din al-Hasani^[20] and delegates of the French president and of various French ministers.^[20] Debbas' body was then taken aboard the Mariette-Pacha to Beirut, arriving there on 30 September.^[21] A funeral wake was held and Patriarch Alexander III of Antioch gave Debbas absolution the following day in the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Saint George.^[21] Three speeches were then given^{[lower-alpha 4]} at Mar Mitr (Saint Demetrios) cemetery,^{[21][lower-alpha 5]} where Debbas is buried.