Abdallah el Yafi Collection (1945 - 1980s)

This collection of a few archival documents and around 1,000 photos (mostly black and white and ranging in dates between 1945 and the 1980s) portrays the activities of Prime Minister and Deputy Mr. Abdallah el-Yafi during this period. Key conferences (San Francisco Conference, 1945) and regional agreements (with Egypt, Yemen, etc.). It also vividly documents noteworthy meetings and visits making it a valuable record of the history of modern Lebanon, and of the then nascent Arab states. This is an invaluable resource for historians, anthropologists, sociologists, and anyone interested in the modern history of Lebanon and the region.

 Mr. Abdallah El-Yafi (1901 –1986) was one of the first Arabs to earn a Ph.D. from the Sorbonne University in 1926, with a dissertation entitled "The Legal States of Women in the Law of Islam." He was the Prime Minister of Lebanon serving 7 times between 1938 and 1969 under four Presidents: Mr. Emile Thabet, Mr. Becharah al Khoury, Mr. Camille Chamoun and Mr. Charles Helou. Mr. El-Yafi has many achievements to his record, most noteworthy of which perhaps is his support of women's struggle for suffrage. Lebanese women's right to vote was granted under his cabinet in 1952.