A high-caliber Lebanese journalist who worked in the most important international media outlets, interviewed top world leaders, heads of state, and government officials, and was known for her ability to reach decision-making circles.
Raghida Dergham is from the town of Bekifa in the Rashaya District. She was born in Ashrafieh in 1953, where she was educated at the Good Shepherd School. Her talent for writing appeared at an early age, and she began her career at the magazine "Al-Hasnaa" at the age of 15 with the writer Ounsi el-Hage, who once said to her: "Welcome, great writer." That was her launch into journalism, and Dergham says: "Ounsi el-Hage left his mark on my life."
After Al-Hasnaa, she wrote for the supplements of An-Nahar and Al-Anwar newspapers, and she recalls that she used to write short stories in her childhood.
She immigrated to the United States in 1970 and settled in New York, where she presented a radio program titled "Haneen," which she considers the program that made her who she is.
She held the position of Senior Correspondent and Bureau Chief for Al-Hayat newspaper in New York from 1989 to 2017. Throughout this period, her star shone on the global stage, and she interviewed presidents, prime ministers, UN secretaries-general, and high-level politicians from around the world.
She served as a correspondent for many newspapers, most notably the Kuwaiti "Al-Anbaa," "An-Nahar Al-Arabi wa Al-Dawli," "Elaph," and others.
She founded the "Beirut Institute" and serves as its Executive Chairperson. The primary goal of the organization is to place the Arab region on the global decision-making map, and several summits have been held in Abu Dhabi to highlight what the Arab world is.
