100 Notable alumni of
Damascus University
Updated:
Damascus University is 316th in the world, 58th in Asia, and 1st in Syria by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 100 notable alumni from Damascus University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff.
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Bashar al-Assad
- Enrolled in Damascus University
- 1982-1988 graduated with bachelor's degree in medicine
- Occupations
- statespersonpoliticianophthalmologistmilitary physicianmilitary leader
- Biography
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Bashar al-Assad is a Syrian politician who is the current and 19th president of Syria since 17 July 2000. In addition, he is the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and the secretary-general of the Central Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, which nominally espouses a neo-Ba'athist ideology. His father and predecessor was General Hafiz al-Assad, whose presidency in 1971–2000 marked the transfiguration of Syria from a republican state into a de facto dynastic dictatorship, tightly controlled by an Alawite-dominated elite composed of the armed forces and the Mukhabarat (secret services), who are loyal to the al-Assad family.
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Mahmoud Abbas
- Occupations
- politicianjurist
- Biography
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Mahmoud Abbas, also known by the kunya Abu Mazen (Arabic: أَبُو مَازِن, ʾAbū Māzin), is the president of the State of Palestine and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). He has been the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) since 2004, PNA president since January 2005, and State of Palestine president since May 2005. Abbas is also a member of the Fatah party and was elected chairman in 2009.
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Bassel al-Assad
- Occupations
- politiciancivil engineermilitary officer
- Biography
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Bassel al-Assad was a Syrian engineer, colonel, equestrian and politician who was the eldest son of Syrian President Hafez al-Assad and the older brother of (later) President Bashar al-Assad. It was widely expected that he would succeed his father as President of Syria until he died in a car accident in 1994.
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Mohammed Rateb al-Nabulsi
- Occupations
- writer
- Biography
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Mohammed Rateb Al-Nabulsi is a Syrian writer, professor, Islamic scholar, and Co-founder & manager (Nabulsi Encyclopedia of Islamic Science). He was a professor at Damascus University. He was living in Syria but after the Syrian Revolution started in 2011, he went to Jordan.
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Kosai Khauli
- Occupations
- television actoractor
- Biography
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Kosai Khauli is a Syrian actor. He portrayed the king of Egypt Ismai’il Pasha in the 2014 historic TV drama Saraya Abdeen that was aired on MBC in 2014.
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Maher al-Assad
- Occupations
- military personnel
- Biography
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Maher al-Assad is a Syrian general and commander of the Syrian Army's elite 4th Armoured Division, which together with Syria's Military Intelligence form the core of the country's security forces. He is also a member of the Central Committee of the Ba'ath Party's Syrian Regional Branch.
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Sulaf Fawakherji
- Occupations
- film directoractor
- Biography
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Sulaf Fawakherji is a Syrian film, TV actress and director.
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Bushra al Assad
- Occupations
- pharmacist
- Biography
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Bushra al-Assad is the first child and only daughter of Hafez al-Assad, who was the president of Syria from 1971 to 2000. She is the sister of current Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. She is the widow of Assef Shawkat, the deputy chief of staff of the Syrian Armed Forces and former head of the Syrian Military Intelligence, who was killed in an explosion on 18 July 2012.
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Sabah Jazairi
- Occupations
- actor
- Biography
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Sabah Jazairi is a veteran Syrian actress who has appeared in numerous drama and television series, comedy shorts, and theatrical plays, including "Al Ababid", "Aa'id ila Haifa" (Returning to Haifa) and Bab Al-Hara (The Alley's Gate). Nicknamed "The Cinderella of the Syrian Screen", Jazairi's long career has spanned over five decades and she has performed in over 80 television series. Throughout her long and illustrious career she has been the recipient of many awards.
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Dima Kandalaft
- Occupations
- actorsinger
- Biography
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Dima Kandalaft is a Syrian actress and singer.
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Suzan Najm Aldeen
- Occupations
- architectactor
- Biography
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Suzan Najm Aldeen is a Syrian actress, whose memorable roles have earned her wide acclaim throughout the Arab world. After enrolling in the Faculty of Engineering, Architecture Department in Damascus, she was offered the opportunity to become an actress. This, however, did not stop her from pursuing her studies and graduating as an architect. Starting in 1990s Syrian dramas, Najm Aldeen went on to star in several renowned Arab series and movies.
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Rifaat al-Assad
- Occupations
- politicianmilitary personnel
- Biography
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Rifaat Ali al-Assad is the younger brother of the late President of Syria, Hafez al-Assad, and Jamil al-Assad, and the uncle of the incumbent President Bashar al-Assad. He was the commanding officer of the ground operations of the 1982 Hama massacre ordered by Hafez al-Assad. Later declassified material backs his claims that his brother Hafez al-Assad was responsible, as do a number of commentators. Despite accusations, Rifaat has always denied culpability.
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Sulafa Memar
- Occupations
- actor
- Biography
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Sulafa Refaat Memar was born on 26 April 1976 in Damascus. She is a well known Syrian actress who began her career in 1994. Soulafa studied at the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in Damascus, Syria and acted in TV and cinema. She won Best Arab actress award in Oran Arab Film Festival for her role in ‘Under the ceiling’.
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Adunis
- Occupations
- university teacherliterary scholarwritertranslatorliterary critic
- Biography
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Ali Ahmad Said Esber, also known by the pen name Adonis or Adunis (Arabic: أدونيس Arabic pronunciation: [ʔadoːˈniːs]), is a Syrian poet, essayist and translator. He led a modernist revolution in the second half of the 20th century, "exerting a seismic influence" on Arabic poetry comparable to T.S. Eliot's in the anglophone world.
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Mohamed Said Ramadan Al-Bouti
- Occupations
- theologianwriterphilosopher
- Biography
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Muhammad Said Ramadan Al-Bouti was a renowned Sunni Muslim scholar, writer, and professor from Syria, where he was vice dean in Damascus University and served as imam of the Umayyad Mosque.
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Abdul Halim Khaddam
- Enrolled in Damascus University
- In 1952 graduated with law degree
- Occupations
- diplomatpoliticianlawyer
- Biography
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Abdul Halim Khaddam was a Syrian politician who served as interim President of Syria in 2000. He also was Vice President of Syria and "High Commissioner" to Lebanon from 1984 to 2005. He was long known as a loyalist of Hafez Assad until he resigned from his position and left the country in 2005 in protest against certain policies of Hafez's son and successor, Bashar Assad. He accumulated substantial wealth while in office: a Credit Suisse account, opened in 1994, was nearly 90 million Swiss francs in September 2003, per Suisse secrets.
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Jumana Murad
- Occupations
- actor
- Biography
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Jumana Nawaf Fahad Murad is a Syrian actress and producer.
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ʻAlī Ṭanṭāwī
- Enrolled in Damascus University
- In 1933 graduated with Bachelor of Laws
- Occupations
- Islamic juristliterarywriterjournalistjudge
- Biography
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Mohammad Ali Al-Tantawi was a Syrian Sunni jurist, writer, editor, broadcaster, teacher and judge considered one of the leading figures in Islamic preaching and Arab literature in the twentieth century.
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Rached Ghannouchi
- Occupations
- lawyerinternational forum participantpoliticianuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Rached Ghannouchi, also spelled Rachid al-Ghannouchi or Rached el-Ghannouchi, is a Tunisian politician, the co-founder of the Ennahdha Party and serving as its intellectual leader. He was born Rashad Khriji (راشد الخريجي).
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Assef Shawkat
- Occupations
- politicianmilitary personnel
- Biography
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Assef Shawkat was a Syrian military officer who was the Deputy Minister of Defense of Syria from September 2011 until his death in July 2012.
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Abdelkader Bensalah
- Enrolled in Damascus University
- Studied jurisprudence
- Occupations
- journalistwriterpolitician
- Biography
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Abdelkader Bensalah was an Algerian politician.
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Faisal al-Qassem
- Occupations
- journalist
- Biography
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Faisal Al-Qasim, also written as Faisal Al-Kasim in (Arabic: فيصل القاسم) is a British-Syrian television personality based in Qatar, who is known for hosting the controversial live debate show The Opposite Direction (Arabic: الاتجاه المعاكس) on Al Jazeera, where two guests with contradicting points of views debate on various topics but mostly topics related to politics of the Arab world. Fights break out on some occasions.
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Nureddin al-Atassi
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Noureddin Mustafa Ali al-Atassi was President of Syria from February 1966 to November 1970.
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May Skaf
- Enrolled in Damascus University
- Studied French literature
- Occupations
- actor
- Biography
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May Skaf was a Syrian actress and activist. She began her career in 1991. Skaf acted in many series and movies such as Al-Ababeed in 1997, Maraya in 1998 and Omar in 2012. Skaf was known for her opposition to Syrian regime, she was labeled The rebellious artist, The Free artist and Revolution icon. She died in July 2018 in Dourdan, France from a heart attack.
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Ghada al-Samman
- Occupations
- journalistpoetnovelistwriter
- Biography
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Ghadah Al-Samman is a Syrian writer, journalist and novelist born in Damascus in 1942 to a prominent and conservative Damascene family. Her father was Ahmed Al-Samman, a president of the University of Damascus. She is distantly related to poet Nizar Qabbani, and was deeply influenced by him after her mother died at a very young age.
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Zahran Alloush
- Occupations
- military personnel
- Biography
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Zahran Alloush was a Syrian Islamist leader who was the commander of Jaysh al-Islam (Army of Islam), a major component of the Islamic Front, of which he was the military chief, and was described as one of the most powerful persons in rebel-held Syria. He was killed in a joint Russian and Syrian airstrike on 25 December 2015 and was succeeded by Essam al-Buwaydhani as head of Jaysh al-Islam.
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Rafik Schami
- Occupations
- novelistchildren's writerwriter
- Biography
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Rafik Schami is a Syrian-German author, storyteller and critic.
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George Percy, Earl Percy
- Years
- 1984-.. (age 40)
- Enrolled in Damascus University
- Studied Arabic
- Occupations
- aristocratbusinessperson
- Biography
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George Dominic Percy, Earl Percy, is a British businessman and the heir apparent to the Dukedom of Northumberland.
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Farouk al-Sharaa
- Occupations
- politiciandiplomat
- Biography
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Farouk al-Sharaa is a Syrian politician and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent officials in the Syrian government and served as foreign minister of Syria from 1984 until 2006 when he became Vice President of Syria.
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Imad Khamis
- Enrolled in Damascus University
- Studied electrical engineering
- Occupations
- politicianengineer
- Biography
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Imad Muhammad Dib Khamis is a Syrian politician who served as the 67th prime minister of Syria from 2016 to 2020 under president Bashar al-Assad. Previously, he was minister of electricity from 2011 to 2016.
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Sa'dun Hammadi
- Occupations
- bankerpolitician
- Biography
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Sa'dun Hammadi was an Iraqi politician. He was briefly Prime Minister of Iraq under President Saddam Hussein from March until September 1991. He succeeded Hussein, who had previously been prime minister in addition to being president, but was forced out due to his reformist views.
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Muhammad al-Yaqoubi
- Occupations
- Islamic juristpoet
- Biography
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Muhammad Abul Huda al-Yaqoubi is a Syrian Islamic scholar and religious leader. He has opposed both Bashar al-Assad and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
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Bashar Jaafari
- Occupations
- diplomatpoliticianpropagandist
- Biography
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Bashar Jaafari, also Ja'afari, is the former Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.
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Riyad Farid Hijab
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Riyad Farid Hijab is a Syrian politician. He was Prime Minister of Syria from June to August 2012, serving under President Bashar al-Assad. From 2011 to 2012, he was Minister of Agriculture.
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Lena Chamamyan
- Occupations
- singercomposersongwriter
- Biography
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Lena Chamamyan is a Syrian singer-songwriter, known for her soprano voice and unique style, which fuses jazz, Arabic folk music and Western classical music.
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Majid al-Shibl
- Occupations
- presenterpublicist
- Biography
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Majid al-Shibl, original name Muhammad al-Shibil, was a prominent Saudi announcer who introduced several programs and variety.
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Wael Nader Al-Halqi
- Occupations
- physicianpoliticiangynaecologist
- Biography
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Wael Nader Al-Halqi is a Syrian politician who was Prime Minister of Syria from 2012 to 2016. Previously he was Minister of Health from 2011 to 2012. He was appointed as Prime Minister on 9 August 2012.
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Nazim al-Kudsi
- Occupations
- diplomat
- Biography
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Nazim al-Qudsi, was a Syrian politician who served as President of Syria from 14 December 1961 to 8 March 1963.
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Omar Abu Risha
- Occupations
- playwrightdiplomatpoet
- Biography
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Omar Abu-Riche was an influential Syrian poet known for his pioneering works.
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Waciny Laredj
- Occupations
- writer
- Biography
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Waciny Laredj is an Algerian novelist, short story writer and academic.
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Ed Husain
- Occupations
- autobiographer
- Biography
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Ed Husain is a British author and a professor in the Walsh School of Foreign Service in Georgetown University. As a political advisor he has worked with leaders and governments across the world. He is also a senior fellow and director of the Atlantic Council’s N7 Initiative which is focused on peace in the Middle East and broadening and strengthening relationships between Israel and its Arab and Muslim neighbours. He has held senior fellowships at think tanks in London and New York, including at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) at the height of the Arab uprisings (2010–2015). While at CFR, his policy innovation memo led to the US-led creation of a Geneva-based global fund to help counter terrorism. He is also a member of the editorial board of the Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, a monthly peer-reviewed academic journal covering research on terrorism and insurgency.
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Bouthaina Shaaban
- Enrolled in Damascus University
- 1971-1975 graduated with bachelor's degree in English studies
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Bouthaina Shaaban is a Syrian politician and political and media adviser to the President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad. Shaaban served as the first Minister of Expatriates for the Syrian Arab Republic, between 2002 and 2008, and has been described as the Syrian government's face to the outside world.
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Moaz al-Khatib
- Occupations
- politicianimamengineer
- Biography
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Ahmad Moaz Al-Khatib Al-Hasani is a former president of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces. He is also a former imam of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus.
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Akram al-Hawrani
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Akram Al-Hourani, was a Syrian politician who played a prominent role during the democratic era of Syria in the 1950s, he established and led the Arab Socialist Party. He was a highly influential figure in the Syrian politics from the beginning of the 1940s until his departure into exile in 1963, during this period he was able to introduce significant reforms towards more just and fairer society especially in relation to the agricultural sector and land redistribution against the feudal system. Al-Hourani held various positions as a member of the Syrian parliament, the head of the parliament, minister of agriculture, minister of defence, and the vice-president of the United Arab Republic. He is the grandfather of Akram Al-Hourani (born 1983), a lecturer and researcher in wireless network engineering and signal processing at RMIT University in Australia.
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Ghassan Aboud
- Occupations
- traderjournalistinternational forum participant
- Biography
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Muhammed Ghassan Aboud is a Syrian entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is a founding members of the Syrian Business Council and the Ghassan Aboud Group. Based in the United Arab Emirates, Abound was listed in the 2018 issue of the Top 50 Most Influential Expats in the UAE by Forbes Middle East.
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Hazza' al-Majali
- Occupations
- lawyereconomistcivil servantpolitician
- Biography
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Hazza' Barakat al-Majali was a Jordanian politician that served as the two-time 11th Prime Minister of Jordan. His first term lasted one week in 1955, his second term lasted from mid-1959 until his assassination.
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Abdelsalam al-Majali
- Enrolled in Damascus University
- In 1949 graduated with Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery
- Occupations
- physicianpolitician
- Biography
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Abdelsalam Atalla al-Majali was a Jordanian physician and politician who served twice as Prime Minister of Jordan.
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Khalid al-Azm
- Occupations
- politiciandiplomat
- Biography
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Khalid al-Azm was a Syrian politician and five-time interim Prime Minister, as well as Acting President from 4 April to 16 September 1941. He was a member of one of the most prominent political families in Syria, al-Azm (also known as Alazem or Al Azem), and the son of an Ottoman minister of religious affairs.
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Burhan Ghalioun
- Occupations
- university teacherpoliticiansociologist
- Biography
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Burhan Ghalioun is a French-Syrian professor of sociology at the Université de Paris III Sorbonne University in Paris, and the first chairman of the Syrian opposition Transitional National Council (SNC). He was named chairman on 29 August 2011. His chairmanship was criticized for his perceived closeness to the Muslim Brotherhood, his early reluctance to arm opposition forces, and what opponents called the autocratic nature of his leadership. On 17 May 2012, feeling he had become an increasingly divisive figure for the council, Ghalioun resigned.
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Faisal Mekdad
- Enrolled in Damascus University
- In 1978 graduated with undergraduate education in English studies
- Occupations
- politiciandiplomat
- Biography
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Faisal Mekdad is a Syrian diplomat and politician who has been Foreign Minister of Syria since 2020. He served as Syria's Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 2003 until 2006.
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Ali Farzat
- Occupations
- journalistbusinesspersoncaricaturist
- Biography
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Ali Farzat or Ali Ferzat is a Syrian political cartoonist. He has published more than 15,000 caricatures in Syrian, Arab and international newspapers. He serves as the head of the Arab Cartoonists Association. In 2011, he received Sakharov Prize for peace. Farzat was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2012.
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Abdullah al-Ahmar
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Abdullah Al-Ahmar is a Syrian politician and prominent member of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party.
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Colette Khoury
- Occupations
- writerprose writerpoliticiannovelistpoet
- Biography
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Colette Khoury is a Syrian novelist and poet, born in 1931, who is also the granddaughter of former Syrian Prime Minister Faris al-Khoury. Khoury graduated from Damascus University with a bachelor's degree in French literature and she received a diploma from the school of literature in Beirut. Khoury's notability stirs from her work in politics and literature. Her work as a writer focuses on love and erotica, a subject that was previously taboo in Syrian culture.
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George Sabra
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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George Sabra is a Syrian politician and member of the Syrian Democratic People's Party. He was elected president of the Syrian National Council, the main opposition group in Syria, on 9 November 2012 and later was acting president of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces from 22 April – 6 July 2013. He resigned from the National Coalition on 25 April 2018. Sabra is a Christian.
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Mudar Badran
- Enrolled in Damascus University
- In 1956 graduated with licentiate degree in law
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Mudar Mohammad Ayesh Badran was a Jordanian politician, government minister, and industrialist of Palestinian descent. He served as the 23rd Prime Minister of Jordan on three occasions from 1976 to 1979, then again from 1980 to 1984, and finally from 1989 to 1991.
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Suheir Atassi
- Occupations
- politicianlawyerdissident
- Biography
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Suheir al-Atassi is a Syrian secular activist in the Syrian opposition, and co-vice-president of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces between November 2012 and December 2013. She has been called the "Lady of the Revolution" and is widely respected in secular and intellectual circles within the Syrian opposition structure. She had previously run the media wing of the banned Jamal Atassi Forum, which was named after her father, a founding member of the Ba'ath Party who later left and founded the Democratic Arab Socialist Union.
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Giles Clarke
- Occupations
- businessperson
- Biography
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Charles Giles Clarke, is a British businessman then cricket administrator, who served as Chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board.
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Hassan al-Nouri
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Hassan al-Nouri is a Syrian politician who was a candidate for the Syrian presidential election in June 2014.
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Yusuf Zuayyin
- Occupations
- physicianpolitician
- Biography
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Yusuf Zuayyin was a Syrian politician. A member of the Ba'ath Party, he served as Prime Minister of Syria in 1965 and again from 1966 to 1968. He was born in Abu Kamal.
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Zuhair Masharqa
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Muhammad Zuhair Masharqa was a Syrian politician who served as Vice President of Syria from 1984 to 2005.
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Maram al-Masri
- Occupations
- translatorwriterpoet
- Biography
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Maram al-Masri is a Syrian writer, living in Paris. She is considered "one of the most renowned and captivating feminine voices of her generation" in Arabic.
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Moussa al-Omar
- Occupations
- television presenterjournalist
- Biography
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Moussa al-Omar is a Syrian journalist and presenter.
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Jawad Abu Hatab
- Occupations
- physicianpolitician
- Biography
-
Jawad Abu Hatab is a Syrian politician. Since May 2016 he has served as Minister of Defence in the Syrian Interim Government. He also served as Prime Minister, resigning on 10 March 2019. Prior to his election as Prime Minister, he worked as a heart surgeon and served in various roles within the Syrian opposition.
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Mohammad Habash
- Occupations
- writerscholar
- Biography
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Mohammad Al-Habash or Mohamed Habash is a Syrian Islamic scholar, and writer. He is the principal figure of the Islamic revivalist movement in Syria, and the founder of the Studies Center for Civilization and Enlightenment Research.
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ʻAbd al-Salām al-ʻUjaylī
- Occupations
- physicianwriter
- Biography
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Abd al-Salam al-Ujayli was a Syrian doctor, novelist and politician.
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Bahjat Talhouni
- Occupations
- politicianjudge
- Biography
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Bahjat Talhouni was a Jordanian political figure. He served as the 14th Prime Minister of Jordan between 1960 and 1970 for six different terms.
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Sabah Qabbani
- Occupations
- diplomat
- Biography
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Sabah Qabbani was appointed ambassador of Syria to the United States by President Hafez Al-Asad in 1974. The post had been vacant since 1967 when diplomatic relations between Syria and the United States were severed following the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Prior to his posting in Washington, D.C. he was Syria’s envoy to Indonesia and Syria's consul in New York.
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Sabri al-Asali
- Occupations
- politicianlawyer
- Biography
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Sabri al-Asali was a Syrian politician and a three-time prime minister of Syria. He also served as vice-president of the United Arab Republic in 1958.
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Riyad Naasan Agha
- Years
- 1947-.. (age 77)
- Occupations
- diplomatMember of the People's Council of Syriascreenwriter
- Biography
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Riyad Nassan Agha is a former minister of culture of Syria. He served as Syria's ambassador to Oman and the United Arab Emirates. He holds a PhD. degree in philosophy from the University of Damascus.
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Ziyad Sabsabi
- Occupations
- statespersonpoliticianeconomist
- Biography
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Ziyad Mukhamedovich Sabsabi, is a Syrian-Russian politician who served as a Member of the Federation Council from the legislative authority of the Chechen Republic from 2008 to 2019.
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Fatima Jibrell
- Occupations
- humanitarianconservationistenvironmentalist
- Biography
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Fatima Jibrell is a Somali-American environmental activist. She was the co-founder and executive director of the Horn of Africa Relief and Development Organization (now Adeso), co-founder of Sun Fire Cooking, and was instrumental in the creation of the Women's Coalition for Peace.
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Ali Haidar
- Occupations
- ophthalmologistpolitician
- Biography
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Ali Haidar is a Syrian politician who is the leader of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party – Intifada Wing, and since June 2011 the Minister of State for National Reconciliation Affairs.
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Mazen Darwish
- Years
- 1974-.. (age 50)
- Occupations
- human rights activistlawyer
- Biography
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Mazen Darwish is a Syrian lawyer and free speech advocate. He is the president of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression. News organizations, including Reuters and the Associated Press, have described him as one of Syria's most prominent activists. He was imprisoned in Syria from 2012 until his release in August 2015.
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Razan Ghazzawi
- Occupations
- human rights activistjournalist
- Biography
-
Dr. Razan Ghazzawi, is a Syrian-Palestinian blogger, campaigner, teacher, and activist, originally from Gaza in Palestine and Homs from Syria. Ghazzawi finished their PhD in Gender Studies and International Relations at the University of Sussex. They currently work as a tenure-track assistant professor in Queer Studies at Oregon State University, USA, since September 2023. Ghazzawi has been highly involved as a dissident since they started blogging in 2005, and weaponized their blogging to disseminate information about Syrian regime human rights violations following the 2011 Syrian Uprising. Ghazzawi has been particularly outspoken on activists' arrests and the violations of human rights committed by the Bashar al-Assad government, as well as on the sectarianism, Arab racism, and transphobia and homophobia towards Syrian ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities within Syrian cisgender and straight activist communityand opposition in diaspora and exile. Ghazzawi was called "iconic blogger and leading activist" by The Telegraph. Jillian York (who has been called "one of the leading scholars on Internet control and censorship") wrote that Ghazzawi was "one of heroes."
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Hassan Hassan
- Occupations
- writerjournalist
- Biography
-
Hassan Hassan is an American author and journalist of Syrian origin. He co-wrote the 2015 New York Times bestseller ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror with Michael Weiss. He has written on Islamist groups in the Middle East. He frequently appeared on The O'Reilly Factor, Amanpour and The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, and has written for The New York Times, Foreign Policy, The Guardian, The Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, Financial Times, and The Daily Beast, among others. Hassan is the founder and editor-in-chief of New Lines Magazine, a global affairs magazine.
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Jamal al-Atassi
- Occupations
- journalistwriterpolitician
- Biography
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Jamal Al-Atassi was a Syrian Arab nationalist, politician and author. He was one of the earliest ideologues of the nascent Syrian Ba'ath Party, which he joined soon after it was founded. He helped to lay out its constitution and was the man who came up with the party's motto, "One united Arab Nation with an eternal Message." He also served as chief editor of the party's daily newspaper, Al Baath.
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Riad Ismat
- Occupations
- theatre criticwriterprofessorliterary criticdiplomat
- Biography
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Mohammad Riad Hussain Ismat was a Syrian writer, critic and theatre director. He served as Minister of Culture of Syria from 3 October 2010 to 23 June 2012.
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Said al-Ghazzi
- Occupations
- lawyerdiplomat
- Biography
-
Said Al-Ghazzi was a Syrian lawyer, politician and two time prime minister of Syria. He was born in Damascus.
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Salwa Al Neimi
- Occupations
- journalistwriterpoet
- Biography
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Salwa Al Neimi, also Salwa al-Nuʿaymī is a Syrian writer, poet and journalist living in France. Originally from Damascus, she is known for her outspoken views on topics which are taboo in the Muslim world, particularly female sexuality. In 2007 she published her debut novel, The Proof of the Honey, which was noted for its liberal treatment of female sexuality.
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Ziad Abu Amr
- Occupations
- politiciandiplomat
- Biography
-
Ziad Abu Amr is a Palestinian politician, author, and member of the Palestinian Legislative Council. He currently serves as the first deputy prime minister and is a member (independent) of the PLO Executive Committee. From 18 March 2007 to 17 June 2007, he was Foreign Minister of the Palestinian National Authority. On 6 June 2013, Ziad Abu-Amr was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority by President Mahmoud Abbas.
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Mano Khalil
- Occupations
- cinematographerfilm directorscreenwriterfilm producer
- Biography
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Mano Khalil is a Kurdish-Swiss film director living in Switzerland. He studied history and law at Damascus University and moved to Czechoslovakia in 1987 to study fiction and film direction. Between 1990 and 1995 he worked as an independent film director for Czechoslovak and later for Slovak Television. Since 1996, he has lived in Switzerland, working as an independent film director and producer.
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Sami al-Jundi
- Occupations
- physicianpolitician
- Biography
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Sami al-Jundi was a Syrian Ba'athist politician, and a follower of Michel Aflaq.
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Abdullatif Abdulhamid
- Occupations
- actorfilm directorscreenwriter
- Biography
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Abdellatif Abdelhamid is a Syrian film director. His films have earned numerous awards, beginning with the Damascus International Film Festival, the Carthage Film Festival, and Rabat International Film Festival.
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Saad Jumaa
- Occupations
- diplomatpoliticianwriter
- Biography
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Saad Mohammad Jumaa Alayoubi was a Jordanian politician, writer and poet, of Kurdish origin, who served as the 17th Prime Minister of Jordan in 1967.
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Imad Moustapha
- Occupations
- diplomat
- Biography
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Imad Moustapha is a former Syrian Ambassador to China and the United States.
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Bassam Alsabbagh
- Enrolled in Damascus University
- In 1990 graduated with bachelor's degree in political science
- Occupations
- politiciandiplomat
- Biography
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Bassam al-Sabbagh is a Syrian diplomat, former Syria's permanent representative to the United Nations in New York City, as well as former Syria's permanent representative to the United Nations Office at Vienna the United Nations Office at Vienna, its former permanent representative to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and its former permanent representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
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Ghassan Ibrahim
- Occupations
- journalistpoliticianeconomist
- Biography
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Ghassan Ibrahim is the Editor in Chief of Global Arab Network and a Syrian journalist.
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Orwa Nyrabia
- Occupations
- writercinematographerscreenwriteractorfilm producer
- Biography
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Orwa Nyrabia is an independent documentary film festival artistic director, producer, filmmaker, trainer, human rights defender and co-founder of DOX BOX International Documentary Film Festival in Syria. Nyrabia is a resident of Berlin, Germany, since the end of 2013 In January 2018 Nyrabia became the director of International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA).
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Ali Khalifa Al-Kuwari
- Occupations
- economistjournalist
- Biography
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Ali Khalifa Al-Kuwari is a Qatari democracy activist, author and professor. He has occupied several positions in the oil sector. He is known for editing the book The People Want Reform in Qatar Too, which was subsequently banned in Qatar due to its critical views of government policies. He is one of the primary advocates for political reform in the country.
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Zaina Erhaim
- Occupations
- journalistwriterwar correspondentteacher
- Biography
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Zaina Erhaim is a Syrian journalist, and feminist. She works as a communications consultant and trainer with international organisations in Syria, Iraq, Morocco, Libya, Lebanon and Egypt. She has reported on the Syrian civil war from within Syria. Erhaim was the Institute for War and Peace Reporting 's Communications Manager, she trained hundreds of people whilst in Syria to be citizen reporters, notably a large proportion of them women.
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Amani Ballour
- Occupations
- physicianpediatrician
- Biography
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Amani Ballour is a Syrian-born pediatrician and an advocate of women's and children's rights. Her story is portrayed by the Oscar-nominated documentary The Cave, which tells of the struggles of running an underground hospital during the Syrian civil war.
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Sari Hanafi
- Years
- 1962-.. (age 62)
- Occupations
- sociologist
- Biography
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Sari Hanafi is currently a professor of sociology at the American University of Beirut and chair of the Islamic Studies program. He is the president of the International Sociological Association and also the editor of Idafat: the Arab Journal of Sociology. In 2018, Hanafi founded "Athar", the Portal for Social impact of scientific research in/on the Arab world.
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Ibrahim Makhous
- Occupations
- physiciandiplomat
- Biography
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Ibrahim Makhūs or Ibrahim Makhous or Brahim Makhous and Arabic: إبراهيم ماخوس was a Syrian Syrian Baathist politician who sat on the Regional Command from 1966 to 1970. He served as foreign minister during Salah Jadid's rule.
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Majd Izzat al-Chourbaji
- Occupations
- activist
- Biography
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Majd Izzat al-Chourbaji is a Syrian peace activist. In 2015, she was awarded the U.S. State Department's International Women of Courage Award, for her work with women and human rights advocacy in Syria.
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Noura Ghazi
- Occupations
- human rights activistlawyer
- Biography
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Noura Ghazi, or Noura Ghazi Safadi ( نورة غازي صفدي ) (born September 30, 1981) is a Syrian human rights lawyer and activist. Her husband, the Syrian-Palestinian Bassel Khartabil (Arabic: باسل خرطبيل), or Bassel Safadi (Arabic: باسل صفدي) was an open-source software developer and one of Syria's leading pro-free speech and democracy activists. He was arrested by the Syrian government in 2012 and executed in 2015.
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Diana El Jeiroudi
- Occupations
- cinematographerdocumentary filmmakerdirectorfilm directorfilm producer
- Biography
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Diana El Jeiroudi, (Arabic: ديانا الجيرودي; born 1977) is a Berlin-based, Syrian independent film director and producer. El Jeiroudi’s films as director were celebrated at many festivals, including the Venice Film Festival, IDFA, DokLeipzig, Visions du Réel, CPH:DOX… among others. Her producing credits include the Sundance 2023 film 5 Seasons of Revolution, the Cannes Film Festival 2014 selection Silvered Water, the IDFA 2013 selection The Mulberry House, among others. She was the first Syrian to be a juror in Cannes Film Festival in 2014, when she was part of the first Documentary Film Award jury in the festival. Together with her partner Orwa Nyrabia, El Jeiroudi was also the first Syrian known to be invited to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2017. El Jeiroudi was also a co-founder of DOX BOX International Documentary Film Festival in Syria and DOX BOX e.V. non-profit association in Germany.
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Ibrahim Hamidi
- Occupations
- journalist
- Biography
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Ibrahim Hamidi is a Syrian journalist who is a senior diplomatic editor for the Arabic daily Asharq Al-Awsat, and who contributes to severalinternational media outlets and think tanks. Previously, he served as head of the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC) office in Damascus, and of the Damascus bureau of Arab daily newspaper Al-Hayat, and as a senior writer for Forward Magazine in Damascus. Hamidi's work focuses on strategic issues in the Middle East, with special insight into Syria's internal and regional politics. He is also a Research Fellow and co-founder of the Syrian Studies Center at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. Hamidi is also a co-founder of the Arab Investigative Journalism Program (ARIJ).
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Mahdi Abdul Hadi
- Years
- 1944-.. (age 80)
- Occupations
- political scientistjurist
- Biography
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Mahdi Abdul Hadi is a political scientist, historian, columnist, author, founder and member of various Palestinian, Arab and international institutions. He founded and heads the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs.
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Noor Shaker
- Years
- 20th Century
- Occupations
- computer scientistartificial intelligence researcheruniversity teacherentrepreneur
- Biography
-
Noor Shaker is a Syrian British entrepreneur and computer scientist who co-founded the AI for drug discovery start-up Glamorous AI. Glamorous AI was acquired by the US-based company X-Chem in Nov 2021. Before Glamorous AI, Noor founded the drug discovery start-up GTN Ltd and served as CEO for more than two years. She stepped down as CEO in August 2019. The company entered liquidation in March 2020. In 2018, she received a CogX UK Rising Star Award from Prime Minister Theresa May for "AI technology that will transform drug discovery to treat chronic diseases".
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Rashad Barmada
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Rashad Barmada was a Syrian politician between the 1940s and early 1960s. Barmada served as a deputy prime minister, minister of defense for three terms, minister of interior for two terms, and minister of education for three terms, and was elected as a member of the Syrian Parliament for three terms (1947, 1954 and 1961). He was the President of the Aleppo Lawyers Syndicate in 1949.
