Filimons wrote:Filimons wrote:Dr Léon Dimitri Mourani, PhD - Federalist Party(Image)
Account Name: Filimons and Frodtthiuda
Occupation: Senator, historian, writer and university professor
Party Position(s):Deputy Chairman of the FederalistsPositions in Government:N/AConstituency: N/A
Political Ideology: National conservatism, Christian democracy, Elizian nationalism
Family: Dr Mourani’s wife, Rana al-Khouri, passed away in 1999; they had three children: Laëtitia (b. 1970, Diepoldsau), Nadine (b. 1972, Baabda), and Georges Amine (b. 1976, Turin). Laëtitia and Nadine, predisposed to the “invisibility” preceding their father’s political entry, lead rather private lives in Germany and Austria, respectively, whilst Georges Amine, having made Kentang his home, serves as his father’s closest aide.
Background: Léon Dimitri Mourani (b. 25 July 1947, Alexandria) is an Elizian academic, historian, writer, politician and former exile. His father, the Sinophile Alfred Maximilien Mourani, was ill-suited to his clan’s Egyptian dealings in precious woods; abandoning the business to his kinsmen, he vacated his domicile in the Bride of the Mediterranean and took his family―Majda (his wife), Yasmin (his daughter) and Léon Dimitri―to the Far East. With the rudimentary Mandarin of his textbooks which had to be left in Alexandria, Alfred Maximilien was soon object of the picturesque scorn of officials intrigued and baffled by his particular fascination with the Uyghurs or, perhaps, the Tibetans. By 1956, he had retreated, much like Chiang Kai-shek, to Taiwan, where he sought the succour of the Academia Sinica to no avail, for the qualifications (or, rather, lack thereof) of man bred by tutors of Greek and Latin were of no interest to the Academy. Before the year came to a close, Léon Dimitri’s father had once again uprooted the household. Deprived of idealism and romantic admiration, the man could see only economic opportunity in Elizia.
The state of the household improved almost immediately in Elizia. Commerce permitted their elevation to the upper echelons and, as such, Léon Dimitri was delivered to the best instructors and headmasters the nascent union could muster; instructed in everything from Malay and Greek grammar to mathematics, the child was wont to spend nights in his study. A young man arose on one of those nights, but he was not reading on that occasion; he was preparing for his first encounter with European soil, for a dream with C. S. Lewis had prompted him to opt to read Literae Humaniores at Oxford, whence he graduated in 1966. Anxious to place his life at the altar of blossoming republic, he served as an informal emissary to Western Europe, but soon became disillusioned with the invisibility of his pseudo-diplomatic service; like Tolstoy’s Prince Andrew, it was an instant of glory―love of the unknowing crowd―that he wanted. He took refuge at the Sorbonne, where he studied philosophy and took an interest in philology, but, brought to revulsion by the “exaltation of madmen”, left Paris in 1968 to complete his doctorate in Vienna.
It was in Austria that he met his future wife, Rana al-Khouri, daughter of a boorishly pecunious São Paulo-based Melkite banker and a Prague-born “White Russian” with exaggerated (but not wholly untrue) claims to nobility. In 1972, on his homeward journey to Elizia, he returned to his native Alexandria with his daughter, Laëtitia, and his heavily pregnant wife, who was to give birth in Baabda (Lebanon). The family of four arrived at the port of Kentang on 2 August 1972 to live in the enviable opulence provided by the Mourani patriarch, Alfred Maximilien. This wasn’t to last, though; the Elizian killings, despite not directly targeting the Europeans (the family were, for all intents and purposes, counted amongst these), could not be ignored. Léon Dimitri brought attention to the great massacre; whosoever held influence of any sort received a letter from the young doctor and soon enough he, along with the rest of the family, was deprived of his citizenship and allowed to leave with nothing but a Lebanese laissez-passer in lieu of a passport.
From his exile in Alexandria and Beirut, he wrote intensely; he plagued Europe’s libraries in his frequent trips, for these alone could provide him with the material of what was to be his Elizian Annals: A History of Elizia. Arabic poetry, Malay translations, English essays, German treatises and French novels were not beyond the scope of his pen. He maintained newspaper columns to bring attention to what he would euphemistically term the “Elizian misunderstanding”, but would not dream of disregarding his diverse interests; indeed, he lectured at the University of Rome (his third child, Georges Amine, was born in Italy) and, through his interest in philology, lectured on Germanic languages (and, especially, Gothic) at Salamanca. His exile, it must be said, was not at all sedentary or torpid, but now, in view of the great material changes in Elizian politics, he wishes to serve the nation which scorned and insulted him in the past.
Faith: Maronite (Christian)
Likes: Christian democracy, Elizian nationalism, English as a unifying element, monarchy, ordered liberty, classics, improved education, social conservatism
Dislikes: Islamism, Muslims [discretely and with the utmost politeness, of course], separatism, imposition of Malay, excessive authoritarianism, libertinage, disappearance of Latin and Greek
Any Questions from the Public to be answered?DONT DELETE THIS TEXT OR YOUR ENTRY WILL NOT BE CATEGORIZED - 1004
- Dr Mourani, why do you propose the state adopt English for most uses? - My primary concern is the defence of the union and the protection of our common fatherland, sir; I believe it to be in Elizia’s best interest. It is a matter of national unity and identity, although it does harbour important economic considerations.
- You are perceived as an anti-Muslim politician by many. What will you do to address these concerns? - It is no secret that I did not get along with many of them in exile, but my petty squabbles are of no importance at this moment. The country’s well-being in delicate times ought to monopolise our attention.
- What provokes a respected intellectual to seek a political career? Why would you risk soiling your name? - I have never been a stranger to the machinations of the political realm; people are not exiled for avoiding politics. Any stain on my name would have to be caused by me and I have no intention of involving myself in the activities known to us all (I shan’t name them) which are responsible for tarnishing the names of otherwise respectable (in this country that often means imperceptible) compatriots of ours.
I am, by the way, quite willing to questions from the public, journalists and parliamentary colleagues.
What's your experience as a Christian in a state where you're a clear minority how do you think that effects your politics and views on the country?
