Mouna Elias El Hrawi was born in 1941 in Baalbeck, from a Palestinian father and a Lebanese mother. She was the oldest of three girls and spent her childhood in Bethlehem until the death of her father when she was nine years old. She stayed with her paternal aunt in Amman until she finished her high school studies, and moved at the age of 17 back to Baalbeck where her mother and sisters had settled. She wed Elias El Hraoui in 1961 and became Lebanon’s first lady in 1989 upon his eventual ascendancy to the presidency.
Honorary office and memberships:
- First Lady, Lebanon, 1989 – 1998.
- Founder and President of the Chronic Care Center, 1993 – present.
- Founder and President of the Lebanese Heritage Foundation, 1996 – present.
- Member of the Board of the Thalassemia International Federation, 1994 – present.
- Member of the Board of the Suzane Mubarak Women’s International Movement for Peace, 2003-2006.
- Founder and President of the Lebanese Permanent Committee for Coordination, 1991 – 1998.
- President of the National Committee for the Preparation of the 4th World Conference on Women, 1995.
- President, Lebanese National Commission for Lebanese Women, 1995 – 1998.
- Honorary President of the Lebanese Red Cross Association, 1990 – 1998.
Awards and Distinctions
- Honorary doctorate degree, Humane Letters, Schiller International University, 1998.
- International Award for the Development of Permanent Child Health and Welfare Services, N.Y. 1996.
- HOPE Worldwide Award (for helping the needy in Lebanon), 1995.
- International Youth Foundation Patron Award, for exemplary support to the UN Program on the International Year of Family, 1994.
Major achievements:
- Restoration of the steles of Nahr el-Kalb archeological site and other projects by the Lebanese Heritage Foundation, & creation of a “Museum of Rural Life – Terbol” & the “Ecomusée – Râs Baalbek”, 1996 – 2010.
- Rehabilitation of the Beirut National Museum and creation of the Museum Gift Shop in order to cover the expenses of maintenance, 1996 – 1999.
- Organization Classical Music Concerts at the Beirut Museum, 1996 – 1997.
- Launched on May 29, 1993, a Télethon. This fundraising event marked a significant solidarity movement for children suffering from chronic diseases, and contributed to build the Chronic Care Center.
Organizing the Anjar Festivals, 1974.
English 
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