On august 4, 1933, the first issue of An-Nahar, a four-page newspaper, was hand-set and printed at a job printing press.

The paper, whose staff numbered five, including its founder Gebran Tuéni, was started with a capital of 50 gold pieces raised from friends, and a circulation of a mere 500 copies.

But soon, in less than a year, An-Nahar, bold and innovative, was able to surpass the most deeply entrenched publications, some almost a century old.

By 1933, Lebanon had already been laboring under the French mandate system for 13 years. Secular, determined in its defense of Lebanon's interests and the Arab World's wider struggle against colonial rule, An-Nahar became the standard-bearer of the fight against social and national injustice.

This policy earned An-Nahar readers, respect and influence. But the price was heavy: up to the war years, both the French authorities and the Lebanese government found it easy, and thought it rewarding, to suspend publication of the paper.

The Second World War brought a succession of occupants to Lebanon, different of course, but all anxious to censor the press and continue suspending An-Nahar.

This building, in "Souk Tawileh", in the heart of the City, was home to a dedicated team of young journalists, representatives of Beirut's various communities, who, with Gebran Tuéni, crystallized people's aspirations for an independent state, a better society and a constitutional government.