In Memoriam: Nadim Dimechkie

Nadim Dimechkie

Nadim Dimechkie, one of Lebanon’s first diplomats, an active AUB alumnus, regular donor, and a former member of the AUB Board of Trustees, died early on March 31 succumbing to pneumonia. He was 88 years old.

Born on December 5, 1920, Dimechkie grew up in his family residence on Bliss Street where he developed his pan-Arab views. Later, he put them to practice during his student years at AUB, where he earned both his bachelor’s (1940) and master’s (1955) degrees in economics. Dimechkie was also a founding member and an honorary president of the committee for Scholarship Aid Fundraising Committee supporting student scholarships and served on the AUB Board of Trustees. He was also active in raising support for rebuilding College Hall after it was destroyed in a car bombing in 1991.

Dimechkie started his diplomatic career at a relatively young age in 1944 as economic counselor to the Lebanese Delegation in London, the first diplomatic mission that was established after Lebanon’s independence. For half a century as a career diplomat, Dimechkie occupied several posts in Ottawa, Cairo, Switzerland, and Czechoslovakia before becoming an ambassador to the United States and Ambassador to the St. James Court in the United Kingdom.

Ambassador Dimechkie was also active in the preparatory sessions for the United Nations Organization in 1945, and later represented Lebanon at the General Assembly of the United Nations from 1957 to 1974. He also participated in delegations to several international bodies, including the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Arab League, and served as vice president of the UN General Assembly. He was also director-general of the Ministry of Economy (1943-44) and held several positions in the banking and economic sectors. Dimechkie was decorated with a number of medals by the governments of Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, the UK, and Greece. AUB President John Waterbury awarded Dimechkie in 2006 the President’s Medal for Outstanding Voluntary Service.

A funeral service was held in his honor at the Khashoggi Mosque in Basta on April 1.

Dimechkie is survived by his wife, Margaret, and his two sons, Ramez, currently Lebanon’s ambassador to Germany, and Riyad, currently the director of the Executive MBA Program at AUB.