View source for May Arida

{{Short description|Lebanese socialite (1926–2018)}}
[[File:May areeda 1965.jpg|200px|right]]'''May Arida''' ({{langx|ar|مي عريضة}}; 1926–2018) was a Lebanese socialite who helped found the [[Baalbek International Festival]], for which she served as president from 1973 to 2016.<ref name="Sothebys"/><ref name="Annahar"/>
She was born '''May al-Khoury Saadeh''' ({{langx|ar|مي الخوري سعادة }}) in [[Beirut]], [[Lebanon]] in 1927, to Habib al-Khoury Saadeh ({{langx|ar|حبيب الخوري سعادة}}) and his wife Marie Saab al-Khoury Saadeh ({{langx|ar|ماري صعب الخوري سعادة}}).<ref name="Annahar"/> She married Ibrahim [[Sursock family|Sursock]] in 1942.<ref name="Sothebys"/> They had three daughters, Amal, Jumana, and Linda.<ref name="Zebawi2013"/> By 1950, they had separated, and she had married Carlos Arida.<ref name="Sothebys"/>
She was elected president of the Lebanese Water Skiing Federation from 1953 to 1961.<ref name="Sothebys"/><ref name="Annahar"/><ref name="Prestige1997" /> In 1955, Lebanese president [[Camille Chamoun]] initiated the founding of the Baalbeck International Festival to foster international appreciation of Lebanese arts, and Arida was tasked with organizing the music and ballet components.<ref name="Prestige1997" /> She became the president of the festival in 1973.<ref name="Sothebys"/><ref name="Annahar"/> The [[Lebanese Civil War]], beginning in 1975, disrupted the festival,<ref name="Sothebys"/> though Arida said that the committee continued to meet and "never slowed its activities... even in times of war" ("''n’a jamais freiné ses activités... même en période de guerre''").<ref name="Prestige1997" /> The war ended in 1990, and in 1997 the festival was revived.<ref name="Sothebys"/>
Arida received a number of international honors for her patronage of the arts and international exchange, including the Gold Medal of Lebanese Merit in 1976, Knight of France's [[Legion of Honour]] in 1978, Commander of Lebanon's [[National Order of the Cedar]] in 2000, Commander of the [[Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity]] in 2005, and Commander of Spain's [[Order of Isabella the Catholic]] in 2009.<ref name="Sothebys"/>
In 2013, she was the subject of a biography written in French by Nabil el-Azan, titled ''May Arida: Le rêve de Baalbeck'' ("''The Dream of Baalbeck''").<ref name="LOrient"/><ref name="Zebawi2013"/>
She resigned from the Baalbek International Festival in 2016.<ref name="Annahar"/> Arida died in 2018.<ref name="Sothebys"/><ref name="Annahar"/>
== References ==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name="Annahar">{{Cite news |url=https://www.annahar.com/article/803793-%D8%B5%D9%86%D8%B9%D8%AA-%D8%B9%D8%B2-%D8%A8%D8%B9%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%83-%D9%88%D9%85%D8%AC%D8%AF%D9%87%D8%A7-%D9%85%D9%8A-%D8%B9%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%B6%D8%A9-%D9%88%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%A7 |title=صنعت عزّ بعلبك ومجدها... مي عريضة وداعاً ("She created great Baalbeck and its glory... goodbye May Arida") |date=2018-05-13 |work=An-Nahar |access-date=2019-12-01}}</ref>
<ref name="LOrient">{{Cite news |url=https://www.lorientlejour.com/article/839703/-may-arida-le-reve-de-baalbeck-de-nabil-el-azan.html |title=" May Arida. Le rêve de Baalbeck " de Nabil el-Azan |last=Zalzal |first=Zéna |date=2013-10-29 |access-date=2019-12-01 |language=fr}}</ref>
<ref name="Prestige1997">{{Cite interview |last=Arida |first=May |interviewer=Baria'a Sreih |title=Jamais un seul nom n’aura évoqué autant de valeurs, autant de souvenirs: beauté, culture, cosmopolitisme … et la mémoire d’un festival qui embrassait les colonnes de Baalbeck. |url=https://www.prestigemag.co/fr/2015/01/may-arida/ |work=Prestige |issue=49 |date=June 1997}}</ref>
<ref name="Sothebys">{{Cite web |url=https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/jewels-from-the-splendid-aristocratic-collection-of-may-arida |title=Jewels from the Splendid Aristocratic Collection of May Arida |date=2018-11-02 |website=Sotheby's}}</ref>
<ref name="Zebawi2013">{{Cite news |title=صحن القمر ("Satellite Dish") |last=Zebawi |first=Mahmoud |date=November 9, 2013 |work=An-Nahar |url=https://newspaper.annahar.com/article/82175-صحن-القمر |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180516184755/https://newspaper.annahar.com/article/82175-%D8%B5%D8%AD%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D9%85%D8%B1 |archive-date=May 16, 2018}}</ref>
}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Arida, May}}
[[Category:Lebanese socialites]]
[[Category:1926 births]]
[[Category:2018 deaths]]