O Globo 12/4/1973

ZOUAIN ZOUAIN

The Lebanese patriarch of Rio

Mr. Zouain has lived in Brazil for 62 years and has followed our history.

He has turned 90 years old with a lot of festivity. Mr. Zouain, the patriarch of the Lebanese colony in Rio, has lived in Brazil since 1911 when he had to leave his country because he disapproved the way the “Bacha”* handled the journalists.

Mr. Zouain was a lawyer and secretary of the Governor of Keserwan province. When his cousin, Deputy (member of parliament) Georges Beik Zouain, was arrested for protesting against an entrance restriction of a journalist to the “Bacha” palace. He showed solidarism to his relative,(Deputy Georges Beik Zouain) and became his lawyer, then he quits the positions he maintained with the Governor.

The “Bacha” tried to change his decision by nominating him Magistrate of Courthouse, but Mr. Zouain refused and emphasized his point of view. His detention was then declared. This made him to escape to Egypt. From there, he came to Brazil, 62 years ago. Mr. Zouain established a newspaper as soon as he arrived in Rio, the “Al- Muntad” ((Aerostat)) that was published in Arabic and functioned at {318, Senior dos Passos Street}. He invested all his savings in this business, beginning to criticize the despotic government and defending his country independence (Lebanon was under Turkish domination until 1924 and then turned into France control).

The newspaper was a way to express his ideas, but despite of being a personal gratification, it was not a profitable enterprise. One year later, Mr. Zouain-Zouain moved to Colatina, Espirito Santo, where he built the “Bazar do Povo” ( People’s Bazar), which became, later, the leading shop store in town.