Back Asma al-Assad Afrikaans أسماء الأسد Arabic اسماء الاسد ARZ Əsma Əsəd Azerbaijani Әсәд Әсмә Bashkir Асма ал-Асад Bulgarian আসমা আল-আসাদ Bengali/Bangla Asma al-Assad Catalan ئەسما ئەسەد CKB Asmá al-Asad Czech
Asma al-Assad | |
|---|---|
أسماء الأسد | |
 Assad in 2008 | |
| First Lady of Syria | |
| In role 13 December 2000 – 8 December 2024 | |
| President | Bashar al-Assad |
| Preceded by | Anisa Makhlouf |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Asma Fawaz Akhras 11 August 1975 London, England |
| Nationality |
|
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3, including Hafez |
| Parents |
|
| Education | King's College London (BSc) |
Asma Fawaz al-Assad (Arabic: أسماء فواز الأسد; née Akhras; born 11 August 1975) is the wife of Bashar al-Assad and former first lady of Syria. Her husband was president from 2000 until he was overthrown on 8 December 2024. Born to Syrian parents in London, she was also raised there and holds dual British and Syrian citizenship. She became First Lady when she married al-Assad, then President of Syria, on 13 December 2000.[1][2][3]
Asma Fawaz Akhras graduated from King's College London in 1996 with a bachelor's degree in computer science and French literature. She had a career in investment banking and was planning to begin an MBA at Harvard University when she married Bashar al-Assad in December 2000. She resigned from her job in investment banking following the wedding and remained in Syria, where their three children were born. As First Lady, she played a major role in supporting government organisations involved with social and economic development as part of a reform initiative halted due to the outbreak of the Syrian civil war.[4]
Along with her husband, Assad was considered to be one of the "main economic players" in Syria, controlling large parts of Syrian business sectors, banking, telecommunications, real estate and maritime industries.[5] As a result of the ongoing Syrian civil war, a conflict which began in March 2011, Assad was subject to economic sanctions relating to high-level Syrian government officials, making it illegal in the European Union (EU) to provide her with material and financial assistance, for her to obtain certain products, and curtailing her ability to travel within the EU.[6][7][8] In the UK, she was a part of a preliminary inquiry within the War Crimes unit of the Metropolitan Police with allegations involving the "systematic approach to the torture and murder of civilians, including with the use of chemical weapons" and incitement of terrorist acts.[9]
- ^ "Assad's British wife targeted by EU as Annan pursues talks on ceasefire". The Scotsman. 24 March 2012. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
- ^ Ramdani, Nabila (10 May 2011). "Is Asma Assad in London?". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
- ^ "Rise and Fall of Syrian Dictator's Wife Fighting to Live". The Daily Beast. 27 December 2024.
- ^ Ruiz de Elvira, L.; Zintl, T. (2014). "The end of the Ba'athist social contract in Bashar al-Assad's Syria: reading sociopolitical transformations through charities and broader benevolent activism". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 46 (2): 329–349. doi:10.1017/S0020743814000130. S2CID 146585947.
- ^ "Changes to Syria's Business Elite Concentrates Wealth in Hands of Presidential Couple". The Syria Report. 15 November 2022. Archived from the original on 2 December 2022.
- ^ Waterfield, Bruno (23 March 2012). "Syria: Asma al-Assad hit with EU sanctions". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 27 December 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
- ^ Robinson, Frances; Norman, Laurence (24 March 2012). "EU Targets Bashar al-Assad's Wife With New Sanctions". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
- ^ Marquardt, Alexander (23 March 2012). "Syria's Stylish First Lady's Shopping Sprees Now Hit By Sanctions". ABC News. Archived from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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