   sheikh pierre gemayel () (6 november 1905 &ndash; 29 august 1984) (last name also spelt jmayyel, jemayyel or al-jumayyil, sheikh is an honorific title in arab countries), was a lebanese political leader. he is remembered as the founder of the kataeb party (also known as the phalangist party), as a parliamentary powerbroker, and as the father of bachir gemayel and amine gemayel, both of whom were elected to the presidency of the republic in his lifetime. he opposed the french mandate over lebanon in the late 1930s and early 1940s, and advocated an independent state, free from foreign control. he was known for his deft political maneuvering, which led him to take positions which were seen by supporters as pragmatic, but by opponents as contradictory, or even hypocritical. although publicly sympathetic to the palestinian cause, he later changed his position due to palestinian support of the lebanese national movement and its calls to end the national pact and establish non-sectarian democracy. ==early life==  pierre gemayel was born on 6 november 1905 in bikfaya, lebanon into a maronite family. he was raised there where some of his ancestors had played a prominent role since 1540. his father amine bachir gemayel, known 
1905_births 1984_deaths Gemayel_family Government_ministers_of_Lebanon Kataeb_Party_politicians Lebanese_Front_politicians Lebanese_Maronites Members_of_the_Parliament_of_Lebanon People_of_the_Lebanese_Civil_War Political_party_founders Saint_Joseph_University_alumni Warlords