He was also the sole elected Lebanese to speak for Lebanon against the French mandate in a League of Nations’ General Assembly in Geneva. His son Maroun pursued his political struggle as he was among the seven parliament members who drew and signed the present Lebanese flag, and drafted a memorandum against the French occupation in November 1943.
Maroun Kanaan was commemorated by the Republic of Lebanon on many occasions, and he is considered a hero of the independence. In 1924, Boulos Kanaan brought Jezzine electricity generated from the waterfall, at a time when a big part of Lebanon was still in the dark; this is why the office of “Electricité du Liban” is still on the ground floor of the mansion. The edifice, with its flowing arcades, is one of the region’s jewels.
