Angela Jurdak Khoury

Angela Jurdak Khoury
Angela Jurdak Khoury
Born	September 24, 1915; Shweir, Ottoman Syria
Died	May 29, 2011; Washington, D.C.
Nationality	Lebanese
Occupation	Diplomat, college professor

Angela Jurdak Khoury (September 24, 1915 - May 29, 2011) was a Lebanese diplomat and college professor based in Washington, D.C.

Early life[]

Angela Jurdak was born in Shweir, Ottoman Syria (Modern day Lebanon) the daughter of Mansur Hanna Jurdak, a mathematician and astronomer on the faculty of the American University of Beirut, and Leah Abs Jurdak. Angela Jurdak attended the American Junior College for Women and then the American University of Beirut, completing undergraduate studies in 1937 and a master's degree in 1938, in sociology.^[1] Later in life, she earned a PhD in international relations, from American University in Washington D.C.^[2]

As a young woman, Jurdak was a member of the Lebanese national tennis team, played piano in concerts, and was known as a long-distance swimmer.^[3]

Career[]

Angela Jurdak taught sociology at the American University of Beirut beginning in 1938, the university's first woman instructor.^[1]^[4] She served as assistant director of the Allied Powers Radio Poll for Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine during World War II.^[5] After the war, she joined the Lebanese delegation to the United Nations and was a member of the Legation of Lebanon based in Washington, D.C. She was the first woman diplomat from Lebanon.^[6]^[7] She was Lebanese consul in New York for a time, and served on the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women at its founding in 1946.^[8] She resigned from her work with the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1966.^[2]

She was a professor of government at George Mason University from 1967 until she retired in 1982.^[9]

Honors[]

Angela Jurdak Khoury was awarded the National Order of the Cedar by the Lebanese government in 1959.^[5] The Angela J. Khoury Award for Outstanding Senior in Government and International Politics is awarded at George Mason University in her memory.^[9]

Personal life[]

Angela Jurdak married lawyer Shukri Issa Khoury in 1949. They had two sons, Philip and George. She was widowed when Shukry Khoury died in 1985. Angela Jurdak Khoury died in 2011, aged 95 years, in Washington D.C.^[2] She lived in her later years with her sister Salma Mansur Jurdak, also a diplomat based in Washington D.C.; Salma Jurdak died in 2017 at age 97.^[10]

References[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Betty S. Anderson, The American University of Beirut: Arab Nationalism and Liberal Education (University of Texas Press 2011): 117. ISBN 9780292726918
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c Office of Communications, "AUB Mourns Angela Jurdak Khoury"^{[permanent dead link]} American University of Beirut (May 30, 2011).
^ Jane Eads, "Lebanese Girl Gets UNO Post" Abilene Reporter-News (March 30, 1946): 14. via Newspapers.com.
^ "History Makers". History Makers, American University of Beirut. Retrieved 2020-05-04.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Andrew Stimson, "Obituaries" The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (August 2011): 63-64.
^ "Achievements of LAU Women Graduates Throughout History" LAU Magazine & Alumni Bulletin (Winter 2011): 30.
^ Samira Nawas Plesman, "Angela Jurdak Khoury - 95; Lebanon's First Woman Diplomat" Shweir.com.
^ "UNO Body Adopts Platform on Women's Rights" Sydney Morning Herald (May 9, 1946): 3. via Newspapers.com
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Lea Lubag, "Former Government Professor and Diplomat Angela J. Khoury Dies"^{[permanent dead link]} Mason Gazette (June 20, 2011).
^ "Salma Mansur Jurdak" Washington Post (March 24, 2017).

External links[]

Angela Jurdak Khoury's gravesite on Find a Grave.
A photograph of Angela Jurdak in 1946, as part of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, with six other representatives including Minerva Bernardino of the Dominican Republic, Marie-Hélène Lefaucheux of France, and Bodil Begtrup of Denmark.