The great Lebanese photographer, Khalil Raad was born in Bhamdoun in 1854. He is one of the few photographers to whom we owe the image archives of Lebanon and Palestine in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Dr. Ayoub Thabet (1885-1947) – Doctor and politician, he studied in the United States, supported French politics, and participated in the Arab Conference in Paris 1913. He survived hanging in 1913 because he was outside Lebanon when Jamal Pasha sentenced him to death. He fled Lebanon to France and then to New York during World War I, where he attacked the Turkish rule. In the US, he established an Association that raised money and helped Lebanese residents during the famine.
He returned to Beirut after the war and was elected as a minority MP, member of the First Representative Council 1922-1925, Senator 1926-1927, appointed deputy 1927-1929, elected deputy 1934-1937,
Deputy Appointed 1937-1939, Deputy Elected 1943-1947, Minister of Interior, Health and Ambulance 1928, Secretary of State 1936, Head of State of Lebanon from March 18 to 21, 1943, was the only Protestant who reached the Presidency of the State even by appointment, Prime Minister, Minister of Justice and Internal Affairs.
Dr. Habib Tabet (1894-1953): Doctor and poet, Director of the Hekmeh University.
Dr. Michel Tabet, lawyer and university professor, born in Bhamdoun in 1944 – Ph.D. in Public Law,
Head of the Department of International Studies, Issues and Health Relations at the Ministry of Health 1983-1988 and then Head of the Department of The Treasury,
Head of Preparation and Training Department and Director of the National Institute of Management and Development of the Service Council
Civil until 1994, Government Commissioner to the General Disciplinary Council, Professor of Administrative Law at the Faculty of Law of the Jesuit University, President of the Disciplinary Council 1999.
Farid Habib: Diplomat, born in Bhamdoun 1947, held several positions – Diplomatic Ambassador and Head of Delegations, Director of Expatriates Commissioned 1983, Lebanon’s Permanent Representative to UNESCO 1984, Holder of Several Medals, with Research and Studies.
Ibrahim Saad Khairallah (1885-1971) – Lawyer, jurist, thinker and politician, Diploma in Islamic Law and Jurisprudence, Professor of Higher Studies – 1904, President of the Political Chamber of Egypt 1916-1924, Member of the New York Bar Association – 1931, Beirut – 1932 . The author of the Law of the Protestant Community in Lebanon and Syria. He wrote several books in Arabic and English.
He was Mayor of Hamdoun 1920-1953.
Khalil Ibrahim Khairallah: Educator, founder of the Arab Institute in Bhamdoun,
Mayor of Bhamdoun for 45 years from 1953-1998.
Shawky Khairallah: Military, politician, thinker and writer, participated in the attempted coup of the Syrian National Social Party on the regime in Lebanon in 1961.
He was arrested, tried and imprisoned, then released. He wrote several books.
Dr. Nabih Amin Fares (1906-1963): University professor, researcher and author, Ph.D. in Oriental Languages and Literature, taught at Princeton University and worked as a curator on Arabic manuscripts in that library.
Professor of Arab History at the American University of Beirut and President of the Graduate Council and its History Department.
He held 15 conferences on Arab studies at the AUB, and wrote many papers and books.
Dr. Ricardo Michel Al-Habr –
Environmental activist, scientific researcher and university professor, Ph.D. in science and biology, professor at the American University, founder of the Friends of Nature Association 1971
Member of the International Federation for The Conservation of the Environment, he has numerous lectures, studies and exhibitions on the subject of the environment.
The acclaimed artist Hafis Joachim Bertschinger was born in Bhamdoun in 1933. He lived in the village until the age of 12, when he moved to Zurich. He works primarily as a sculptor and painter, but also as a writer and designer. He has studios in Switzerland, Japan and Morocco.
Author and historian Kamal Salibi was born in the village of Bhamdoun in 1929. He wrote many controversial books, but Salibi is most known for his A House Of Many Mansions (published in 1988), a book that rewrote the history of Lebanon.
Lebanese politician Violette Khaïrallah Safadi was born and bred in Bhamdoun, though she now resides in Tripoli. She is currently Minister of State for the Economic Empowerment of Women and Youth.