(1926 – 2018)
She founded the Baalbek Festival Theater in 1968 with members of the Baalbek Committee to give art and acting students the opportunity to appear on the stage. She held the position of president of the “Baalbeck International Festival” from 1973 until 2016. Her name was listed among the 100 most important women in the position of director in Europe and the Arab world. It organized the first water skiing championship in Lebanon in cooperation with the Lebanese Federation for this sport. Arida obtained some of global honors for her patronage of the humanities and global exchange, which includes the Gold Medal of Lebanese Merit in 1976, Knight of the Legion of Honor of France in 1978, Commander of the National Order of the Cedar of Lebanon in 2000, Commanderof the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity in 2005 and Commander of the Order of Isabelle la Cattolica in Spain in 2009.
