One of the most prominent names from the first generation of Lebanese journalism and one of the most famous journalists in the Arab world, Badih Serbey was born in Beirut in 1930 and died there in 1994.

He began his journalistic career in the newspapers "Beirut" and "Beirut Al-Masaa" when he was eighteen years old. He worked as a correspondent for the Egyptian newspaper "Akhbar Al-Youm", and was one of the first program producers and presenters on the Near East Radio. In 1953, he published the magazine "Al-Mawed", and was considered the founder of a pioneering school in artistic journalism.

In 1954, he began his career in Lebanese political journalism, as publisher and editor-in-chief of the weekly political magazine “Kol Shay”, which he continued to publish during the Lebanese Civil War until it ceased publication in 1990

He was the first Arab journalist to meet the late leader Gamal Abdel Nasser and conduct a press interview with him for the magazine "Kol Shay:, following the July 23 Revolution. He also scored a journalistic scoop in 1960 by conducting an interview with President Gamal Abdel Nasser, in which the late leader responded to rumors of his assassination. The interview was reported that day by all Arab and foreign media agencies.

He achieved several journalistic victories in his eventful professional life, starting with a very important journalistic interview with the Egyptian Queen Nariman, following the July 23 Revolution that overthrew King Farouk.

He issued the semi-monthly artistic magazine "Al-Mawed" on January 1st, 1953, and soon began issuing it on a weekly basis, at the request of the Star of the East, Umm Kulthum. He continued issuing it on a weekly basis since that period, and achieved wide circulation in Lebanon, Egypt, and all parts of the Arab world. After his death, his daughters took over issuing the magazine "Al-Mawed", until its paper version stopped in 2016.

In the early eighties, he published “Noura” magazine, which was the first photo magazine in the Arabic language in the Arab world. It produced, wrote and published exclusive illustrated stories starring Arab stars, until it later turned into an artistic, social, women’s and cultural magazine.

In 1981, he published the magazine “Ayyub Al-Muhabib,” which is a children’s magazine that includes cartoon stories, the most prominent of which tells about the adventures of the boy Ayyub, a cartoon character whose stories were written and drawn by Arab creators. Each issue also included competitions, educational information for children, and translated cartoon stories.

Badih Serbey is considered a pioneer in artistic journalism. Readers in Egypt and Lebanon used to look forward to his weekly column in Al-Mawed magazine, which was called “Star Street” | "Share' Al Noujoum." He used to write journalistic articles in which he expressed his opinions, and he also hosted art stars and giants over the course of weeks, published in serial episodes. These episodes were often journalistic triumphs, including rare and exclusive information and photos for Al-Mawed magazine. Al-Mawed magazine was also famous for being the first to publish serial episodes that dealt with the life stories of artistic figures, kings, Arab and foreign princes, sports and journalistic celebrities, businessmen and economists, and Arab and foreign historical figures.

Badih Serbey adopted many young talents and launched a group of well-known stars in the world of art. He was a friend of major artists and gave some artistic titles to the stars, until these titles became an alternative to the artists’ names.

Mohamed Abdel Wahab was given the title of “The Musician of Generations,” and Faten Hamama was given the title of “The Lady of the Arab Screen” while handing her the cup from Al-Mawed magazine because she won as the best star, over several polls conducted by Al-Mawed. Abdel Halim Hafez was given the title of “The Brown Nightingale,” Souad Hosni the title of “Cinderella,” and Shadia the title of “The Screen’s Darling.”

He was the first to create competitions and polls for the readers of “Al-Mawed” magazine to choose their favorite stars through the works they presented each year. He was also the first to hold parties to distribute “Al-Mawed” magazine trophies to the winning stars. These parties were attended by the stars only, and were not commercial parties.

He was the first to make the audience engage in a direct dialogue with the artist, through the “Hello Al-Mawed” corner, where the audience contacts the Al-Mawed offices in Beirut and a guest artist is on the line, answering the audience’s questions. The artist’s name and the time of his presence at the Al-Mawed offices were announced in a previous issue, and all the audience’s questions and the artist’s responses are published in the following week’s Al-Mawed issue.

The neighbors of Al-Mawed office remember that the street where the magazine’s office is located in Beirut used to be crowded with Al-Mawed readers and the public, waiting to meet the stars.

He also managed to convince the late star Nadia Lutfi to become part of the editorial staff of Al-Mawed to respond, in her own handwriting, weekly to the readers’ problems. The name of the column was “You Ask and Nadia Lutfi Answers.”

Badih Serbey was known for publishing only the correct news and checking a lot before publishing any information, so he gained people’s trust, until Al-Mawed became a source of honest news, for readers and also for stars.

He was friends with the great artists, and he did not trade or bargain with the secrets he knew, because he wrote a slogan for the appointment:
“Artistic journalism is not a show of extravagance. It brings to the masses pure and innocent entertainment that fills their souls with joy and optimism. This is how we wanted “Al-Mawed” to be.”

• He held the position of Secretary of the Lebanese Press Syndicate for more than ten years.
• Member of the Supreme Council of the Lebanese Press.
• He held the position of media advisor to the Prime Minister during the era of Presidents Saeb Salam and Takieddine Solh.
• He was awarded the National Cedar Medal, Knight rank, in 1972.
• He won the Mustafa and Ali Amin Award for Journalism in 1993.
• He published several political books and artistic works.
• He wrote many political articles in Egyptian newspapers about Lebanon during the war.