Women of Lebanon: Interviews With Champions for Peace

by Nelda LaTeef

Despite sixteen years of civil war that left 150,000 dead, 425,000 injured, and nearly a million refugees within their own country, many Lebanese women successfully protected their national heritage and helped to restore order within their society. They formed schools and clinics, preserved historic ruins, and produced art that expressed the anguish and loss of their people. In this book, 42 Lebanese women from arts and literature, education, government, law, social work, the media, business and medicine discuss the effects of war on their careers and humanitarian efforts, their personal lives and families. Many of these women lost relatives and homes. In spite of such devastation, their stories confirm the power of endurance and also convey the significance of women's issues within Lebanon. These 42 poignant interviews with educated, successful women reveal their strength and the importance of culture and diversity within Lebanon.

283 pages, Paperback

First published November 20, 1997

About the author

The daughter of a US Foreign Service family, Nelda LaTeef spent her first eighteen years attending schools in Tunisia, Afghanistan, Italy, Niger, Nigeria, Lebanon, and Senegal. Her children's picture books, THE TALKING BAOBAB TREE (2020) and ANIMAL VILLAGE (2018) were named Kirkus Reviews' Best Books of the Year. LaTeef's books have received numerous honors and awards including Storytelling World Awards, Children's Africana Book Awards, Literary Classics Gold and Silver Awards, Next Generation Indie Book Finalist, and starred Kirkus Reviews. Her books have been translated into numerous languages including Italian, French, Spanish, Korean and Gaelic. Her illustrations were showcased at the Museum of American Illustration in New York, Corcoran Gallery of Art, and McLean Project for the Arts. She is a cum laude graduate of Harvard University and is the author of Working Women for the 21st Century: Fifty Women Reveal Their Pathways to Success, selected by the New York Public Library as recommended reading for young adults. She lives with her family in Virginia.