Walid Harfouch: Difference between revisions
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In the mid-90s, Walid married Natalya Dementieva. The couple had two children: son Karim (1996) and daughter Lisa (2000). |
In the mid-90s, Walid married Natalya Dementieva. The couple had two children: son Karim (1996) and daughter Lisa (2000). |
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2001 entered into a civil marriage with Lida Petrova, and already in 2015 the couple officially married. They are raising three children: Emily (2004), Adam (2012) and Adele-Cloe (2016). |
2001 entered into a civil marriage with Lida Petrova, and already in 2015 the couple officially married. They are raising three children: Emily (2004), Adam (2012) and Adele-Cloe (2016).<blockquote>«The only religion for me is love, since Christianity says love your neighbor, this religion is close to me»</blockquote> |
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==References== |
==References== |
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Walid Harfouch | |
|---|---|
| File:Walid Harfouch, portrait, 2017.jpg | |
| Born | 10 April 1971 |
| Citizenship | Ukrainian |
| Occupation(s) | Head of Euronews in CIS countries, media, public life |
| Children | 4 children |
_and_Michael_Peters_(CEO_of_Euronews).jpg)
Walid Harfouch is the Head of Euronews in various countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States. He is also the president of the Coordination Council of the Ukrainian version of Euronews. In 2001, he was appointed as the first goodwill ambassador of the United Nations, as commissioned to fight SIDA (HIV/AIDS) in Ukraine. He founded the public association SOS Racism!
Today, he is a well-known show business personality in Ukraine. He has worked with his brother Omar Harfouch to organize international beauty pageants, such as Elite Model Look and Miss Europe. He is the founder of one of the first Ukrainian FM radio stations, SuperNova. Along with his brother Omar, he is also the editor of the magazine PaparaZZI.
He has been practicing yoga professionally for over 10 years.
Biography
Harfouch was born on April 10, 1971, in Tripoli, Lebanon. His father, Adnan Harfouch, was a professor of Arabic literature, and his mother, Najwa El Hajj, was a school director. Omar is his elder brother, and he has an elder sister, Hind.
In 1988, Harfouch finished his education at the College des Freres, and in 1990, his brother Omar invited him to come to Ukraine. Together, they were among the first people to reside in the city of Dnipro. In 1991, Harfouch was admitted into the Faculty of Journalism at the Oles Honchar Dnipro National University.
In 1995, Walid moved to Kiev, where he began working in the media sphere. In 2002, Walid founded the PR and BTL agency "Super-Nova", which organized a number of PR campaigns throughout Ukraine. Among Super-Nova's clients: Premier Palace Hotel, Coca-Cola, Yalta life rally, Red Bull and others. The main achievement of the agency was lobbying the interests of individuals, politicians and large companies in Ukraine, Europe and, in particular, France.
In 2003, Walid Harfouch, together with his brother, began to publish the Paparazzi magazine about the life of show business stars and policymakers.
In 2005 Walid Harfouch published the book "Sex, Murder, a Million".[1]
In 2006, Walid Harfouch and his brother acquired the rights to hold three Miss Europe beauty contests. The first of them took place in October 2006 in Kiev at the National Palace "Ukraine" and was broadcast live in 12 European countries. 34 girls from different European countries took part in the competition. Ukraine at the "Miss Europe - 2006" was represented by Alena Avramenko, who received the title of the first vice-miss of Europe.
Harfouch was head of the foreign press department for the candidate, and later president of Ukraine, Victor Yanukovych.
Radio
In 1995, Harfouch and his brother Omar left Dniepropetrovsk and moved to Kyiv where they founded one of the first FM radio stations, SuperNova.[2] The collaboration with Radio France International (RFI) [3] has allowed them to appear on SuperNova in various broadcasts and radio news in French, English, and Arabic, as well as Russian and Ukrainian. The station collaborated directly with the French Institute in Ukraine, as well as the French embassy in Ukraine. Super-Nova broadcast live coverage of the Cannes International Film Festival. At one point, SuperNova broadcast the program Depoutatsky Tchas (The hour of Deputies) where a lot of representatives of the Ukrainian parliament participated. Harfouch became a quasi-celebrity in the public eye as a result of these activities.
Beauty competition
Between 1998-2000, Harfouch and his brother represented the interests of the Elite agency in Ukraine. They became the official organizers of the international competition known as Elite Model Look.[4]
In 2002, Harfouch and his brother founded their own internet beauty competition, Miss@NetWorld.[5] In 2006, they acquired the rights to Miss Europe. That same year, in Kyiv, the international final of the competition was broadcast in more than 20 countries around the world. At the end of the year, they founded a new competition, Miss CEI, with contestants from the Balkan countries and the CIS. The competition became a popular television program.
Public life
In 1995, a public appeal, A Girl for Boy, was organized by Harfouch's station, SuperNova, with the assistance of Ukrainian artists. The objective was to provide Boy, an elephant in the Kyiv Zoo, with a mate. The funds raised allowed the transport of a female elephant from Germany to the zoo.
In 2000, Harfouch became the first goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations, commissioned to fight SIDA in Ukraine. He was responsible for the creation and installation of a bronze statue to commemorate victims of SIDA. It was inaugurated in 2001 in Kyiv by Kofi Annan, then secretary-general of the United Nations. After this event, the song "Protect the Life", produced by Harfouch and composed by his brother Omar, became known as the anthem for the fight against SIDA in Ukraine.[6]
In 2007 Harfouch created an organization known as SOS! Racism!, becoming its secretary general. SOS! Racism! was responsible for many public events, such as The Anti-Racism March", which was characterized by its great number of participants, and caused debate in Ukraine. As a result of this march, SOS! Racism! has prepared, with the support of Ukrainian deputy Anna German, a new bill to stiffen penalties for racism, anti-semitism, and xenophobia.
Writing
In 2003, Walid and Omar Harfouch began editing the magazine PaparaZZI.[7] In 2005, the magazine published an article that caused a scandal concerning the expenses of Andrey Loustchenko, the son of the Ukrainian president at the time. In 2005, Harfouch published a book, Sex Murder and Millions with the publisher Gallimard-Edition Folio.[8]
Super Nova Agency
In 2002, Walid founded a public relations agency known as BTL or Super Nova Agency, which organized various large-scale publicity campaigns. The agency's clients include Hotel Premier Palace, Coca-Cola, the Yalta Life Rally, and Red Bull among others. One of the organization's main activities was lobbying and public relations for large clients in Europe.
Television
TET TV channel
In August 2007, Harfouch became the general producer of TET TV channel, one of the first private TV channels in Ukraine. Among the tasks that Harfouch outlined in his new post was raising the TV channel's rating, expanding its audience and updating the programming through new shows such as Miss CIS. Due to his active public life, Walid became the hero of many television programs and talk shows. In 2008, he became a "chronicler" in Savik Shuster's TV program "Shuster Live".
First national channel
From March 2010 to June 2013, Walid Harfouch was appointed Deputy General Director of NTKU. Not in this position, he was engaged in the development of musical and entertainment projects, and also established international cooperation of the First National.[9]
Euronews
In October 2010, Walid Harfouch became the President of the Coordinating Council of the Ukrainian version of Euronews.
On August 2, 2011 in Lyon, Euronews and Walid Harfouch, on behalf of NTKU, jointly announced the official launch of the Ukrainian version of Euronews.
With the assistance of Valid Arfush, on August 24, 2011, a full-fledged version of the European information channel Euronews was launched in Ukrainian.[10]
Since 2014, Walid Arfush has been the head of Euronews in the CIS countries.[10]
Since 2019, Valid Arfush has moved to the position of Vice President of the international TV channel Euronews.
In August 2011, he started the Ukrainian version of Euronews with the support of the vice prime minister of Ukraine, Borys Kolesnikov, and with the advice of Ukrainian deputy Anna German. In June 2013, Harfouch became the head of Euronews in various CIS countries.[10]
In 2017, Arfush acquired the HDFashion & LifeStyle TV channel.
Social activity
Kiev Zoo
In 1995 - a public action "Girl for Fight", organized by Walid and radio "Super-Nova" to search for the possibility of transporting a pair for the only elephant of the Kiev Zoo. With the money raised from a charity ball for an elephant, a bride was brought from Germany.
UN Goodwill Ambassador
In 2000, Walid Arfush became the first UN Goodwill Ambassador for the Fight against AIDS under the UNAIDS program. He was at the forefront of the emergence of a bronze monument in memory of the victims of AIDS, the opening of which was personally attended by the then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Thanks to this, the song "Protect Life", written by Omar Arfush and produced by Walid, became the anthem of the fight against AIDS in Ukraine.
SOS! Racism!
In 2007 Walid Arfush created the public organization “SOS! Racism! " and became its general secretary. The SOS! Racism! " initiated many public events, such as the March Against Racism, which attracted a huge number of participants and caused a lot of noise in political circles. Thanks to the march and the support of the deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Anna German, a bill was submitted based on the French version on toughening the responsibility for manifestations of racism, anti-Semitism and xenophobia.
Expressed condolences to relatives and those killed in the explosions in the port of Beirut in August 2020. He called on the Ukrainian community to give moral support to the Lebanese, since Ukraine has always had a great attitude towards the Lebanese republic and people.
Regarding the protests in the USA (2020), which began due to the murder of a black policeman and were accompanied by the robbery of protesters, Walid commented in one of his interviews that the protests arose because of the problems of racism, and looting of stores is looting, which casts a negative shadow on the bright intentions of the protest movement.
Personal life
In the mid-90s, Walid married Natalya Dementieva. The couple had two children: son Karim (1996) and daughter Lisa (2000).
2001 entered into a civil marriage with Lida Petrova, and already in 2015 the couple officially married. They are raising three children: Emily (2004), Adam (2012) and Adele-Cloe (2016).
«The only religion for me is love, since Christianity says love your neighbor, this religion is close to me»
References
- ^ Harfouch, Walid (2005). Sex. Murder. Million. ISBN ISBN 966-03-3239-4.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: invalid character (help) - ^ Borys L. Skurativsky. "У пам'ять про... (Українські радіостанції, яких вже немає)". Proradio.org.ua. Archived from the original on 2013-08-12. Retrieved 2013-07-18.
- ^ "Actualités, info, news en direct - Radio France Internationale - RFI". Rfi.fr. Archived from the original on 2013-07-17. Retrieved 2013-07-18.
- ^ "Elite Model World". Elite Model World. Archived from the original on 2012-05-01. Retrieved 2013-07-18.
- ^ "Miss Net World 2002 Final: Tripoly, Libya". Missnetworld.com. Archived from the original on 2013-10-04. Retrieved 2013-07-18.
- ^ "Омар Арфуш и артисты - Захисти життя". YouTube. 2012-02-23. Archived from the original on 2018-03-01. Retrieved 2013-07-18.
- ^ "ПапараZZи - Главная страница". Paparazzi.com.ua. Archived from the original on 2013-07-29. Retrieved 2013-07-18.
- ^ "Юптсь Бюкхд - Sex. Сахиярбн. Лхккхнм (Бюкхд Юптсь) / Пнлюмш / Опнгю.Пс - Мюжхнмюкэмши Яепбеп Янбпелеммни Опнгш". Proza.ru. Archived from the original on 2013-12-30. Retrieved 2013-07-18.
- ^ "Керівництво - Перший Національний канал". 1tv.com.ua. Archived from the original on 2013-08-01. Retrieved 2013-07-18.
- ^ a b c Publié par Gilles Roman. "Walid Arfush, Euronews Lyon, France / Kiev, Ukraine | Photos de LYonenFrance". Lyon-photos.fr. Archived from the original on 2013-12-30. Retrieved 2013-07-18.
Further reading
- Orphaned articles from July 2013
- 1971 births
- Living people
- People from Tripoli, Lebanon
- Lebanese journalists
- Lebanese media executives
- Naturalized citizens of Ukraine
- Businesspeople from Dnipro
- Ukrainian journalists
- Ukrainian media executives
- Ukrainian radio journalists
- Ukrainian television personalities
- Ukrainian people of Lebanese descent