97 Notable alumni of
Damascus University
Updated:
Damascus University is 325th in the world, 62nd in Asia, and 1st in Syria by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 97 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
- statespersonmilitary leadermilitary physicianophthalmologistpolitician
- Biography
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Bashar Hafez al-Assad is a Syrian politician who has served as the 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 Hafez al-Assad, whose presidency between 1971 and 2000 marked the transfiguration of Syria from a republican state into a dynastic dictatorship tightly controlled by an Alawite-dominated elite composed of the armed forces and the Mukhabarat (secret services), who are loyal to the Assad family.
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Mahmoud Abbas
- Occupations
- juristpolitician
- 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. He has been the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) since 11 November 2004, PNA president since 15 January 2005, and State of Palestine president since 8 May 2005. Abbas is also a member of the Fatah party and was elected chairman in 2009.
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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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Bassel al-Assad
- Occupations
- military officercivil engineerpolitician
- 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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Kosai Khauli
- Occupations
- actortelevision actor
- Biography
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Kosai Khauli is a Syrian actor. He is a Maronite. 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 Republican Guard and the army's elite Fourth 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. He is thought by some to be the second-most powerful man in Syria after his brother Bashar, the current President.
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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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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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Rifaat al-Assad
- Occupations
- military personnelpolitician
- Biography
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Rifaat Ali al-Assad is the younger brother of the late President of Syria, Hafez Assad, and Jamil al-Assad, and the uncle of the incumbent President Bashar al-Assad. He is alleged by sources to be the commanding officer responsible for the Hama massacre of 1982. 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. Rifaat lived in exile in France for 36 years and returned to Syria in October 2021 after being found guilty in France of acquiring millions of euros diverted from the Syrian state. In September 2022, France's highest court, the Cour de Cassation, confirmed the ruling.
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Adunis
- Occupations
- literary scholaruniversity teacherjournalistpoetliterary 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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Abdul Halim Khaddam
- Occupations
- lawyerpoliticiandiplomat
- Biography
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Abdul Halim Khaddam was a Syrian politician who 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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Mohamed Said Ramadan Al-Bouti
- Occupations
- philosopherwritertheologian
- Biography
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Mohammed Said Ramadan Al-Bouti was a notable Sunni Muslim scholar who was also known as "Shaykh of the Levant". He was killed during the Syrian civil war, reportedly in a bomb explosion, though "many questions about the death" have been raised by videos of the scene.
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Dima Kandalaft
- Occupations
- singeractor
- Biography
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Dima Kandalaft is a Syrian actress and singer.
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ʻAlī Ṭanṭāwī
- Enrolled in Damascus University
- In 1933 graduated with Bachelor of Laws
- Occupations
- journalistjudge
- Biography
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Mohammad Ali Al-Tantawi was a Syrian Salafi jurist, writer, editor, broadcaster, teacher and judge considered one of the leading figures in Islamic preaching and Arab literature in the twentieth century. On his mother side, he is the nephew of eminent pro-British Salafi journalist Muhib Al Din Al Khatib.
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Abdelkader Bensalah
- Enrolled in Damascus University
- Studied jurisprudence
- Occupations
- politicianwriterjournalist
- Biography
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Abdelkader Bensalah was an Algerian politician. He served as the President of the Council of the Nation, the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Algeria, between 2002 and 2019.
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Rached Ghannouchi
- Occupations
- lawyerinternational forum participant
- 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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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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Assef Shawkat
- Occupations
- military personnelpolitician
- Biography
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Assef Shawkat was the deputy Minister of Defense of Syria from September 2011 until his death in July 2012.
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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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Zahran Alloush
- Occupations
- military personnel
- Biography
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Zahran Alloush was a Syrian Islamist leader active in the Syrian Civil War. He was the commander of Jaysh al-Islam (or 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 Russian/Syrian airstrike on 25 December 2015 and Essam al-Buwaydhani was named his successor as head of Jaysh al-Islam.
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Ghada al-Samman
- Occupations
- journalistwriternovelistpoet
- 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 Syrian University. She is distantly related to poet Nizar Qabbani, and was deeply influenced by him after her mother died at a very young age.123
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Rafik Schami
- Occupations
- writerchildren's writernovelist
- 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 39)
- Enrolled in Damascus University
- Studied Arabic
- Occupations
- businesspersonaristocrat
- 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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Imad Khamis
- Enrolled in Damascus University
- Studied electrical engineering
- Occupations
- engineerpolitician
- Biography
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Imad Mohammad Deeb Khamis is a Syrian politician who was 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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Farouk al-Sharaa
- Occupations
- diplomatpolitician
- 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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Muhammad al-Yaqoubi
- Occupations
- poetIslamic jurist
- 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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Sa'dun Hammadi
- Occupations
- politicianbanker
- 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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Bashar Jaafari
- Occupations
- propagandistpoliticiandiplomat
- 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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Lena Chamamaan
- Occupations
- singer
- Biography
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Lena Chamamyan is a Syrian-Armenian singer-songwriter known for her soprano voice and unique style, which fuses jazz, Middle Eastern folk music and Western classical music.
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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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Wael Nader Al-Halqi
- Occupations
- gynaecologistpoliticianphysician
- 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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Omar Abu Risha
- Occupations
- poetdiplomatplaywright
- 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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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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Ed Husain
- Occupations
- autobiographer
- Biography
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Mohammed Mahbub Husain is a British author and academic. He is also 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 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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Moaz al-Khatib
- Occupations
- engineerpolitician
- 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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Hazza' al-Majali
- Occupations
- lawyerpoliticiancivil servanteconomist
- 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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Khalid al-Azm
- Occupations
- diplomatpolitician
- Biography
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Khalid al-Azm was a Syrian national leader 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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Ghassan Aboud
- Occupations
- international forum participantjournalisttrader
- Biography
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Muhammed Ghassan Aboud is a Dubai based Syrian entrepreneur, philanthropist and a founding member of the Syrian Business Council. He is mainly known as the founder of Ghassan Aboud Group, the UAE headquartered conglomerate. In 2018, Ghassan Aboud was named in the list of Top 50 Most Influential Expats in the UAE by Forbes Middle East.
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Burhan Ghalioun
- Occupations
- sociologistpoliticianuniversity teacher
- 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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Ali Farzat
- Occupations
- caricaturistbusinesspersonjournalist
- 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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Colette Khoury
- Occupations
- novelistpoliticianwriterpoet
- 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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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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George Sabra
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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George Sabra is a 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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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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Abdelsalam al-Majali
- Enrolled in Damascus University
- In 1949 graduated with Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery
- Occupations
- politicianphysician
- 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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Suheir Atassi
- Occupations
- dissidentlawyerpolitician
- Biography
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Suheir al-Atassi is the leading female 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 an English businessman and cricket administrator, and former chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board.
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Faisal Mekdad
- Occupations
- diplomatpolitician
- Biography
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Faisal Mekdad is the Syrian Foreign Minister and former Permanent Envoy to the United Nations.
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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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Moussa al-Omar
- Occupations
- journalisttelevision presenter
- Biography
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Moussa al-Omar is a Syrian journalist and presenter.
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Yusuf Zuayyin
- Occupations
- politicianphysician
- 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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Maram al-Masri
- Occupations
- poetwritertranslator
- 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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Jawad Abu Hatab
- Occupations
- politicianphysician
- Biography
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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
- 'ālimwriterassociate professor
- 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
- writerphysician
- Biography
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Abd al-Salam al-Ujayli was a Syrian doctor, novelist and politician.
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Bahjat Talhouni
- Occupations
- judgepolitician
- 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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Fatima Jibrell
- Years
- 1947-.. (age 76)
- Occupations
- environmentalistconservationisthumanitarian
- 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
- politicianophthalmologist
- 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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Sabri al-Asali
- Occupations
- lawyerpolitician
- 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 76)
- Occupations
- screenwriterMember of the People's Council of Syriadiplomat
- 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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Mazen Darwish
- Years
- 1974-.. (age 49)
- Occupations
- lawyerhuman rights activist
- 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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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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Razan Ghazzawi
- Occupations
- journalisthuman rights activist
- Biography
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Razan Ghazzawi is a Syrian-American blogger, campaigner and activist and currently a PhD researcher at the University of Sussex. She has been highly involved in the events during the Syrian Civil War, and has been particularly outspoken on activists' arrests and the violations of human rights committed by the Bashar al-Assad government. She 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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Riad Ismat
- Occupations
- theatre criticcriticdiplomatliterary criticprofessor
- 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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Jamal al-Atassi
- Occupations
- politicianwriterjournalist
- 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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Hassan Hassan
- Occupations
- journalistwriter
- Biography
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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.
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Said al-Ghazzi
- Occupations
- diplomatlawyer
- Biography
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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
- poetwriterjournalist
- 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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Abdullatif Abdulhamid
- Occupations
- screenwriterfilm directoractor
- 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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Ziad Abu Amr
- Occupations
- diplomatpolitician
- Biography
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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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Mahmoud Ahmad Marei
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Mahmoud Ahmad Marei is a Syrian politician, lawyer, current head of the Arab Organization for Human Rights, and former secretary-general of the National Democratic Front, a small, opposition party.
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Imad Moustapha
- Occupations
- diplomat
- Biography
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Imad Moustapha is the Syrian Ambassador to China and his country's former Ambassador to the United States.
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Ghassan Ibrahim
- Occupations
- economistpoliticianjournalist
- Biography
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Ghassan Ibrahim is the Editor in Chief of Global Arab Network and a Syrian journalist.
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Saad Jumaa
- Occupations
- writerpoliticiandiplomat
- Biography
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Saad Mohammad Jumaa Alayoubi was a Jordanian politician, writer and poet who served as the 17th Prime Minister of Jordan in 1967.
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Orwa Nyrabia
- Occupations
- film directorfilm produceractorscreenwritercinematographer
- 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
- journalisteconomist
- 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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Ibrahim Makhous
- Occupations
- diplomatphysician
- 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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Amani Ballour
- Occupations
- pediatricianphysician
- 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 61)
- 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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Noura Ghazi
- Occupations
- lawyerhuman rights activist
- Biography
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Noura Ghazi, or Noura Ghazi Safadi ( نورة غازي صفدي ) (born September 30, 1981, in Damascus, Syria) 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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Mahdi Abdul Hadi
- Years
- 1944-.. (age 79)
- Occupations
- juristpolitical scientist
- 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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Diana El Jeiroudi
- Occupations
- film producerfilm directordirectordocumentary filmmakercinematographer
- 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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Zakaria Ben Mustapha
- Years
- 1925-2019 (aged 94)
- Enrolled in Damascus University
- In 1954 graduated with bachelor's degree
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Zakaria Ben Mustapha was a Tunisian politician. He served as the Minister of Culture from 1987 to 1988 and the Mayor of Tunis from 1980 until 1986.
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Noor Shaker
- Years
- 20th Century
- Occupations
- entrepreneuruniversity teacherartificial intelligence researchercomputer scientist
- Biography
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Noor Shaker is a Syrian 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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Rushdi al-Shawa
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Rushdi Sa'id Shawwa Bey was the mayor of Gaza from 1939 to 1952. He was born in his father's house (former mayor Sa'id al-Shawa) in the al-Turukman section of the Shuja'iyya neighborhood. His mother, Hafiza Sha’ath from Beersheba, came from a major tribe in that area. Her brother, Tajuddin Sha'ath, was the head of the tribe and a former mayor of Beersheba.
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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.
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Mohamed Ali Abdel Jalil
- Occupations
- essayistcritictranslatorresearcher
- Biography
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Mohamed Ali Abdel Jalil, Syrian essayist, calligraph, critic, researcher islamologist and translator, French and Arabic-speaking, born in Damascus in 1973 in a peasant family from Damascus Suburb (Rif Dimashq Governorate) (village: Rankous). He studied at the Damascus University. He is a member of the Maaber Committee. He proposes the idea that the Qur'an is a text translated into Arabic from other dominant languages and cultures.
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Liwaa Yazji
- Enrolled in Damascus University
- Studied English literature
- Occupations
- writerpoetfilm producerdramaturgescreenwriter
- Biography
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Liwaa Yazji, alternative spelling Liwaa Yazaji, is a Syrian filmmaker, playwright, TV screenwriter, dramaturge and poet. Her works, written in Arabic, have been translated into English and presented in the United Kingdom, the US and, in original Arabic versions, in Arab states.
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Adnan Hassan Mahmoud
- Occupations
- diplomat
- Biography
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Adnan Hassan Mahmoud is the former minister of information of Syria.
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Abdel Razak al-Yehiyeh
- Years
- 1929-2020 (aged 91)
- Occupations
- military personnelpolitician
- Biography
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Abdel-Razak al-Yehiyeh or Abdul-Razzaq Al-Yahya born in Tantura, near Haifa, then in the British Mandate of Palestine, also known as Abu Anas, was a Palestinian politician who served as Interior Minister of the Palestinian National Authority.
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Munir al-Rayyes
- Occupations
- newspaper editorwriter
- Biography
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Munīr al-Rayyis was a prominent Syrian newspaper editor and writer.
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Omar al-Muqdad
- Years
- 20th Century
- Occupations
- journalistfilm director
- Biography
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Omar al-Muqdad is a Syrian journalist, who since 2012 lives in the United States.
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Hamid Bin Ahmad Al-Rifaie
- Occupations
- clericpolitician
- Biography
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Hamid bin Ahmad Al Rifaie is a Saudi Arabian activist and thinker, president of the International Islamic Forum for Dialogue (IIFD ), and co-president of the World Muslim Congress.
