The lack of influence accorded to Berri's Shi'ite brethren reflected their general underdevelopment and poverty, whether measured in terms of income, education, health care, or occupation.
Nabih's biography is in large measure a mirror of the extraordinary modernization and change that took place in the Shi'ite community over the span of his lifetime. By the mid-1980s the Shi'ites, who had a much higher birthrate (until the 1990s) than any of the other sects in Lebanon, were clearly the largest single community in the country (representing as much as 40 percent of the population). They began demanding a more central role in the Lebanese political system, and were clearly unwilling to continue to accept the second or third class status that had long been their fate.
The career of Berri illustrates some of the changes that occurred. After working for a time for his father in Freetown, he attended the Lebanese University in Beirut and graduated from the Beirut Law School in 1963. After graduation Berri went to France, where he studied for a year at the Sorbonne. He was active in student politics, and served as president of the student body at the Lebanese University.
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