charles corm was born in 1894 in beirut, lebanon, the son of the famous lebanese painter daoud corm (sometimes anglicised as "david corm"). he graduated from the oriental faculty at saint joseph university with high honors. in 1934, at age 40, he left business for a life of literature and philanthropy. due to his exceptional success in business and later on acclaimed literary endeavors, corm enjoyed an impressive international contact network. according to rushdy maalouf, “charles had the amazing faculty to befriend all kind of people with the same ease. at times, it seemed there was nobody he did not know. this granted him tremendous clout in business, literature and politics. whether through business or art, charles spent his life building powerful bridges between lebanon, often referred to at the time as the paris of the middle east, and the west.”