Samir Frangieh (4 December 1945 – 11 April 2017) was a Lebanese politician and a leftist intellectual. He was a member of the Lebanese Parliament. He was from the Frangieh family, one of the well-known political families of Lebanon.

Frangieh was born in Zgharta on 4 December 1945.^[1] He hailed from an old political family, Frangieh family.^[2] He is the son of Hamid Kabalan Frangieh and Lamia Michel (née Raffoul).^[3] Hamid Frangieh was a lawyer and a businessman.^[4] He was the elder brother of Suleiman Frangieh who was the President of Lebanon in the period 1970-1976.^[2] Therefore, Suleiman Frangieh Jr. and Samir Frangieh were cousins.^[5]

Frangieh was a leading journalist.^[6] He contributed to many leading publications, including L'Orient (1970), L'Orient-Le Jour (1971–1975), Le Monde diplomatique, Libération, An Nahar, As Safir and Financial Times.^[1] He also published articles in academic journals such as Journal of Palestine Studies.^[7][8]

Frangieh joined the Lebanese Communist Party and left it in 1967.^[1] He was the founder of the Lebanese Communist Union which was disestablished in 1970.^[1] He was also a member of the National Movement Center.^[1] During the term of President Émile Lahoud, Frangieh was one of the opposition leaders, who tried to challenge close allies of the president.^[9] The opposition group was also led by Rafik Hariri and Walid Jumblatt.^[9] Frangieh was a political ally of Jumblatt.^[10]

Frangieh was also one of the founders of the Qornet Shehwan Gathering.^[11] He supported the implementation of the Taif accords and the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon.^[12] In addition, he was part of the 14 March Alliance^[13] and a member of its general secretariat.^[14][15] He was the author of "Beirut manifesto" that was published in Le Monde on 22 June 2004.^[16] The manifesto, which was signed by Lebanese intellectuals and eminent public figures, challenged the dominance of Syria in Lebanon.^[16]

In the 2005 general elections, Frangieh became a member of the Lebanese Parliament, representing Zgharta.^[17] However, in the general elections of 2009, Frangieh was not included in the election list of the March 14 alliance.^[18]

Frangieh was elected president of the March 14 national council in June 2015 against Fawzi Ferri.^[19]

Frangieh was married to Anne Mourani with whom he had two children.^[1] He was the author of The Journey to the Extreme of Violence that was published in 2011.^[13] He died on 11 April 2017 in Beirut's Hotel Dieu Hospital.^[20][21]