Asma al-Assad

Asma al-Assad
أسماء الأسد
Assad in 2003
First Lady of Syria
Incumbent
Assumed role
13 December 2000
PresidentBashar al-Assad
Preceded byAnisa Makhlouf
Personal details
Born
Asma Fawaz Akhras

(1975-08-11) 11 August 1975 (age 49)
London, England
Nationality
  • Syrian
  • British
Spouse
​
(m. 2000)​
Children
Parents
Alma materKing's College London (BSc)

Asma Fawaz al-Assad (Arabic: أسماء فواز الأسد; née Akhras; born 11 August 1975) is the First Lady of Syria. Born and raised in London to Syrian parents, she is married to the President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad.[1][2]

Assad 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 set 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 couple's wedding and remained in Syria, where their three children were born. As First Lady, she played a major role in implementing governmental organisations involved with social and economic development throughout the country as part of a reform initiative which was halted due to the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War.[3]

Along with her husband Bashar, Asma is considered to be one of the "main economic players" in Syria and controls large parts of Syrian business sectors, banking, telecommunications, real estate and maritime industries.[4] As a result of the ongoing Syrian Civil War, a conflict which began in March 2011, Assad is 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.[5][6][7] 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.[8]

  1. ^ "Assad's British wife targeted by EU as Annan pursues talks on ceasefire". The Scotsman. 24 March 2012. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  2. ^ Ramdani, Nabila (10 May 2011). "Is Asma Assad in London?". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ "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.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sky20210314 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).