Claudia Lakkis
Claudia was the incarnation of beauty and magic, without her, life will never have the same charm, ever again. Originally from Zgharta, Claudia lived for forty-five years before she was killed in a country whose leaders were sound asleep, when a horrific explosion took the lives and dreams of loved ones.
Claudia holds a degree in electrical engineering from the American University of Beirut. She was known for her hard work and dedication in the projects that she led, the last of which was with a firm assigned to modernize the electricity sector in Lebanon. She was a distinctive leader, she made everyone around her feel confident, valuable, and at ease.
Not only was Claudia successful as a career person, she was also highly cultured and educated. She was a reference in economics, social studies, and literature. Her husband Henri describes her, “she was a stream of creative ideas and beliefs”.
And while everyone will die, their presence may never perish. As such, Claudia is still very present in her daughters’ thoughts, attitudes, and eagerness for learning.
Around a month before the 4th of August, Claudia suggested to her husband that their family immigrates to another country. She was fed up with the deteriorating situation in Lebanon, and was worried about her daughters’ future.
A few seconds stood between life and death; a striking and excruciating death. On that day, Claudia decided to stay overtime at the office at Electricité du Liban, in order to prepare for a meeting scheduled for the next day. She called her husband, and told him to postpone their grocery shopping plans for another day.
When the deadly warehouse exploded, Henri called his wife. The phone did not ring; only silence could be heard. He rushed to the company feeling that he had lost her forever.
On his way there, he could only see death and misery everywhere he looked. He went up to his wife’s office and looked for her under the rubble. The darkness left no place for life.
What are we Lebanese citizens still waiting for? We have all been the target of criminal attempts that ripped us out of everything that we own, and everything that we are.
Claudia died and became an eternal memory. Henri held her in his arms, one last time…