Lebanon, in addition to being a center…

Lebanon, in addition to being a center of commercial and religious activity, becomes an intellectual center in the second half of the nineteenth century.

Foreign missionaries establish schools throughout the country, with Beirut as the center of this renaissance.

The American University of Beirut is founded in 1866, followed by the French St. Joseph's University in 1875.

An intellectual guild that is formed at the same time gives new life to Arabic literature, which had stagnated under the Ottoman Empire.

This new intellectual era is also marked by the appearance of numerous publications and by a highly prolific press.