Asma Fawaz Akhras (Arabic: أسماء الأخرس), also known after her husband's family name as Asma Al-Assad, is the First Lady of Syria. She was born in London, England, on August 11, 1975. Her family is originally from Homs, Syria. She married President Bashar al-Assad in 2000, having previously pursued a career in merchant banking.
Early life
Asma is the daughter of prominent Syrian cardiologist Fawaz Akhras. Asma was born as Asma Akhras and was known to many as "Emma". [1] She is from the west London town of Acton. Although she is now known as "Asma Al-Assad", there is no rule or clause in the Syrian law for a woman to adopt her husband's surname after marriage.
Official Role
Unlike previous Syrian First Ladies, Asma has maintained a higher profile at state, diplomatic, and charitable events. In 2004 Asma al-Assad was awarded an Honorary doctorate in Archaeology from La Sapienza University, Rome.
Asma and Bashar al-Assad in Moscow
As the first lady of Syria, Asma initiated and supported programs designed to foster economic development and improve the quality of life for Syrian people. Asma has focused on issues concerning rural development technology. In July 2001, she established Syria’s first rural development N.G.O., known as the Fund for Integrated Rural Development of Syria (F.I.R.D.O.S.). The fund aims to play a leading role in advancing comprehensive and sustainable human development through the direct participation of the Syrian population. During her frequent visits to villages and local communities throughout the country, Asma stresses the importance of strengthening and enhancing the capacity of communities, whilst respecting the positive values of local culture and heritage.
Asma has highlighted the key role of women in the development process and facilitating their participation. She recently hosted the "Women and Education" forum which gathered First Ladies from six various Arab countries and delegations from all 22 Arab countries. The three-day event gathered viewpoints and opinions on new trends and methodologies in education. Asma is head of Mawred, a Syrian NGO set up under her patronage in 2003 with the aim to enhance the role of women in Syria's economic development. She actively supports the Syrian Business Women’s Committee in the Chamber of Commerce. In April 2002, Asma hosted the Women in Business Conference, the largest gathering of businesswomen in the Middle East. Asma is also seen as role model for Syrian women and has attended a conference in Beirut on Arab women and war in 2004. [2]
On World Children’s Day in June 2002, Asma launched the first National Children’s Book Fair, which featured authors, artists and publishers from around the country. Asma takes the position that learning is the product of an open and diversified society and access to knowledge, experience, and the enhancement of learning will improve the quality of life. She encourages parents to spend more time with their children, to involve them in family affairs and to always ask for and respect their opinions.
Asma's interest in Information and Communication Technology (I.C.T.) began during her school years and in July 2002 she initiated the first Mobile Information Center (M.I.C.) in the Middle East, intended to help bridge the gap between the information-rich and information-poor communities in Syria. The M.I.C. serves the purpose of a fully equipped mobile computer classroom, which travels through Syria’s remote villages to conduct I.C.T. literacy programs.
Asma is also an active sponsor of events that promote the history, culture and arts of Syria.
First Lady of Syria
As the wife of the Syrian President Asma has taken a prominent public role. Her persona is in contrast to her mother-in-law, Anisah Makhlouf, widow to the late Hafez al-Assad. Tensions have been reported between Asma and Anisah, and also between Asma and her sister in law, Bushra al-Assad, who reportedly had a strong influence on her late father. The tensions are reported to be ongoing and surround concerns regarding "the sort of first lady that Asma wants to be".[2] It has also been reported that Bushra disputes Asma's use of the title "first lady" out of respect for Anisa, widow of the late Syrian president Hafez al-Assad.[3]
Education and Career
Asma attended King’s College, London and graduated in 1996 with a BSc first class honours degree in Computer science and a Diploma in French Literature. After university, Asma spent six months travelling throughout the Far East and Europe. Upon her return in 1997, she started work at Deutsche Morgan Grenfell in London (now known as Deutsche Bank) as an analyst in the Hedge fund Management section of Sales and Trading, covering clients in the Far East and Europe.
In 1998, Asma joined the Investment banking division of J.P. Morgan, London. She specialized in Mergers and Acquisitions for Biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. During the three years she spent at J.P. Morgan, she was sent to their Paris office for nine months and to the New York office for eighteen months, where she advised and executed four large merger transactions for both European and American clients.
Family
After leaving J.P. Morgan in November 2000, Asma returned to Syria and married Bashar al-Assad in December 2000. On December 3, 2001, they became the parents of their first-born child, named Hafez after his late grandfather. Zein was born on November 5, 2003, and Kareem on December 16, 2004. Her father is London-based cardiologist Fawaz al-Akhras, and mother Sahar Otri al-Akhras, an active philanthropist in Syria. She has two brothers; Feras, a doctor, and Eyad, a communications consultant based in Qatar.[4]
See also
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