Who is Sahar Baassiri, Wife of Lebanon’s New Prime Minister?

After breaking down everything you need to know about Lebanon’s new First Lady Nehmat Aoun, we thought we’d do the same for our newly-elected Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s wife, Sahar Baassiri. Here’s what we could find out about her:

Education

She earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the American University of Beirut (AUB) before pursuing a master’s in Journalism at Columbia University in New York.

Professional Career

Baassiri worked for the leading Lebanese daily An-Nahar newspaper from 1981 to 2009. In 1993, she broke new ground as the first female Foreign Editor at a Lebanese daily and became the first woman in the Arab world to write a front-page column in a daily paper. From 1989 to 1991, she also served as the Beirut correspondent for United Press International (UPI).

She also served as Lebanon’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Lebanon to UNESCO from 2018 until 2023.

Published Works

In addition to her journalism career, Baassiri is the author of two books in Arabic: Lebanon on Hold and The Wandering Arabs, both published in 2009 by Dar An-Nahar

Family Life

Sahar Baassiri is married to newly-elected PM Nawaf Salam, and they have two children together.

If you enjoyed this read, you might also like: What to Know About Nehmat Aoun, Lebanon’s Potential First Lady