The ladies of the Mar Elias Orphanage society receive the First Lady of Lebanon
Mrs. Chamoun, Dr. Charles Malik, and Archimandrite Spiridon Khoury listening to Aida Labaki's speech
The Beginning of an Artistic-Industrial Renaissance in Lebanon
On the morning of Thursday, the twentieth of February, the inauguration was celebrated of the "tapisserie Aubusson" factory at the Mar Elias Btina school and orphanage, established by the "Lodgia" company. The celebration was held under the patronage of the First Lady, Zalfa Chamoun, with Minister Malik and Minister Kozma, the deputies, the directors of state, men of the press, and a great number of society ladies. Mrs. Aida Labaki, one of the founders of the company, welcomed the First Lady of Lebanon and noted her encouragement toward the realization of this national project. Then the First Lady proceeded, accompanied by the president of the society, Mrs. Hortense Tamer, and the ladies of the society, to the factory hall, and inaugurated the work with her own hand. Mrs. Monique Caron, wife of the factory director, presented her with a marvelous Aubusson sash, made by the little girls. Below is the speech delivered by Mrs. Aida Labaki at the inauguration ceremony; we are careful to publish it because it tells, simply and sincerely, the story of the "Lodgia" company — this great national artistic project:
My Lady, First Lady of Lebanon, Ladies and gentlemen,
In the name of the board of this orphanage and in the name of the founders of the Lodgia company, I welcome you and I thank you, for you were so gracious as to accept to open this workshop of ours. I thank you because you were the first to encourage the realization of this project, and