Abdul Qadir Al-Azm
Abdul Qadir al-Azm | |
|---|---|
عبد القادر العظم | |
| File:Abdul Qadir Al-Azem.jpg | |
| 2nd [[Rector of the Syrian University]] | |
| In office 1936–1941 | |
| Preceded by | Rida Said |
| Minister of Finance of Syria | |
| In office 12 June 1926 – 2 December 1926 | |
| President | Ahmad Nami |
| President of the Shura Council | |
| In office 1941–1944 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1881 Mesraba, Ghouta, Ottoman Empire |
| Died | 1960 Damascus, United Arab Republic |
| Alma mater | Royal Institute (Mülkiye), Istanbul |
| Occupation | Statesman, academic, jurist |
Abdul Qadir al-Azm (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.; 1881–1960) was a Syrian statesman, jurist and academic from Damascus. He served as the second rector of the Syrian University (now Damascus University) from 1936 to 1941, briefly held the finance portfolio in 1926 during the Great Syrian Revolt, and was appointed president of the Shura Council during the Second World War. A member of the Al-Azm family, which had governed Damascus in the 18th century, he was earlier a dean of the Institute of Law and an official under both Ottoman and Faisal-era administrations.[1]
Early life and education
Al-Azm was born in 1881 in the village of Masraba in the Douma district of the Ghouta around Damascus, into a long-established family descended from the line that had governed Damascus in the 18th century. He studied at the Lazarist school in Bab Tuma, the Jaqmaqiyya school in Bab al-Barid, and the Maktab Anbar, before enrolling at the Royal Institute (Mekteb-i Mülkiye) in Istanbul to complete his higher education, graduating in 1904. While studying in Istanbul he lodged in the house of Shafiq Muayyad al-Azm, a relative who was elected a deputy for Damascus in the Ottoman Chamber of Deputies and was later hanged in Marjeh Square; al-Azm married his daughter.[1]
Early career
Al-Azm began his career as a clerk in the office of the governor (wali) of Damascus. In 1915 he was appointed qaimmaqam (district governor) of Douma, and subsequently held posts in several Balkan provinces until the end of the First World War in 1918. After the fall of Ottoman rule in Syria he returned to Damascus and pledged allegiance to Emir Faisal as Arab ruler of the city; Faisal appointed him mutasarrif (governor) of Hama and then director-general of publications, a post he held until 1920.[1]
Academic career and the Syrian University
After the collapse of Faisal's rule and the imposition of the French Mandate, al-Azm turned to teaching and became dean of the Institute of Law in Damascus. He worked with a group of jurists and lawyers to develop the institute, appointing Fares al-Khoury to teach procedure, the former mufti of Damascus Sheikh Sulayman al-Jukhdar to teach endowment law, Amin Suwaid to teach Islamic jurisprudence and Shakir al-Hanbali to teach administrative law. His students included several future leading politicians, among them Khalid al-Azm and Sabri al-Asali.[2]
In 1923 the Institute of Law was merged with the Institute of Medicine to form the Syrian University.[3] Al-Azm was nominated for the presidency of the new university, competing with the dean of the medical institute, Dr. Rida Said, and Muhammad Kurd Ali, head of the Arabic Language Academy. In his memoirs al-Azm argued that he was the worthiest of the post because he needed the rector's salary more than his rivals, noting that Rida Said drew both a fixed salary from the medical institute and an income from his clinic, while Kurd Ali had income from both the Academy and his newspaper al-Muqtabas. The presidency went to Rida Said — who served as the university's founding president from 1923 to 1936 — and al-Azm remained dean of the law faculty.[3][2]
A few months after the university's founding, a dispute arose between law students and Kurd Ali, who taught them Arabic; the students objected to his teaching manner and campaigned against him in the press. A student demonstration against Kurd Ali led al-Azm to resign in sympathy with his colleague, and the lawyer Fawzi al-Ghazzi was assigned to run the institute. Al-Azm soon withdrew his resignation at the request of the university's president, and the matter was set aside so that France could not use it as a pretext to close the university.[4]
Minister of Finance
Al-Azm was appointed Minister of Finance in the second government of Damad Ahmad Nami, serving from 12 June to 2 December 1926.[5] The appointment came during the Great Syrian Revolt, as Ahmad Nami sought to broaden the base of political participation in his cabinet. The cabinet was the first in Syrian history to include two ministers from a single family, both members of the Al-Azm family.[5]
Rector of the Syrian University
On the retirement of Rida Said in 1936, al-Azm was appointed rector of the Syrian University.[3][6] His tenure was marked by considerable unrest: students protested against France over its refusal to ratify the first independence treaty and over the cession of the Sanjak of Alexandretta to Turkey to secure Turkish neutrality in the approaching war. There were also serious clashes between students supporting the National Bloc and those backing Dr. Abd al-Rahman Shahbandar, particularly after Shahbandar's assassination in 1940, for which National Bloc leaders were blamed. These conditions disrupted university life throughout al-Azm's rectorship.[6][1]
President of the Shura Council
After Syria came under the control of the pro-German Vichy administration during the war, Khalid al-Azm — a former student of al-Azm's at the Institute of Law — was appointed head of state. He invited his former teacher to head the Shura Council, the body responsible for reviewing laws and regulations before they were submitted to the head of state. Al-Azm accepted the post and held it until 1944.[7]
Later life and death
Following independence and the evacuation of French forces from Syria, al-Azm was named commissioner on behalf of the Syrian government to the tobacco monopoly company, an honorary post he held until his retirement in 1949. He then devoted himself to writing. He died in Damascus in 1960.[1]
Works
Al-Azm wrote several works, the most prominent being Ilm al-Iqtisad ("Economics"), issued in three volumes by the Syrian University Press between 1931 and 1940. He also wrote a history of the Al-Azm family titled al-Usra al-Azmiyya, and composed his memoirs in 1951.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Faris, George (1957). من هم في العالم العربي [Who's Who in the Arab World] (in العربية). Damascus. pp. 435–436. Search this book on
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 al-Azm, Abd al-Qadir (1951). المذكرات [Memoirs] (in العربية). Damascus. p. 62. Search this book on
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Moubayed, Sami (13 June 2023). "The fascinating history of Damascus University". Al Majalla. Retrieved 28 June 2026.
- ↑ al-Azm, Abd al-Qadir (1951). المذكرات [Memoirs] (in العربية). Damascus. p. 63. Search this book on
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 حكومة الداماد أحمد نامي بك (من 12 حزيران 1926 - 2 كانون الأول 1926) [Government of Damad Ahmad Nami Bey (12 June 1926 – 2 December 1926)]. Presidency of the Council of Ministers (Syria) (in العربية). Retrieved 28 June 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 رؤساء جامعة دمشق [Rectors of Damascus University]. The Modern History of Syria (al-Tārīkh al-Sūrī al-Muʻāṣir) (in العربية). Retrieved 28 June 2026.
- ↑ al-Azm, Khalid (1972). مذكرات خالد العظم [Memoirs of Khalid al-Azm] (in العربية). 1. Beirut: al-Dar al-Muttahida. p. 210. Search this book on
Further reading
- Khoury, Philip S. (1987). Syria and the French Mandate: The Politics of Arab Nationalism, 1920–1945. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-00843-1. Search this book on — the standard scholarly history of Mandate-era Syria, covering the Al-Azm family, the Great Syrian Revolt, and the cabinets of Ahmad Nami.
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