Not so long ago Syria’s first couple was personae non grata in Western capitals, long isolated by sanctions (both diplomatically and economically).So it came as somewhat of a surprise when President Nicholas Sarkozy of France extended a warm invitation to Bashar al-Assad to attend the summit for Mediterranean leaders last summer in Paris.
But while the president spent his days in closed meetings his wife managed to attract the attention of the French media, as images of her making the rounds of Paris were beamed around the world: Asma visiting the Louvre and Centre Pompidou, seated by Carla Bruni at the Bastille Day celebrations, as well as accompanying her husband to a dinner at the Elysee Palace.
It doesn’t take much to cause ripples within Arab diplomatic circles, and in the last few years Asma Al-Assad’s emergence on the scene has been nothing less than seismic. Unlike previous Syrian first ladies, she has maintained a high profile at state, diplomatic and charitable events.
Yet despite her background, Asma Al-Assad’s beginnings as a first lady were not always so public. When she married Syria’s president some ten years ago her first order of business was to disappear from public view entirely. During that period she traveled around the country incognito in jeans and a t-shirt; getting to know ordinary Syrians as well as experiencing first hand many of the problems and challenges facing society there. “For me,” she explained at the time, “it was only logical – that was the way to start.”
Back in Damascus she held a reception and astonished her husband’s ministers by mingling and introducing herself to everyone instead of gathering them around a long, formal dinner table with herself and her husband at the head. Her warm, informal style has persisted; winning over many, despite the disapproval of some of the old guard early on. This informality also extends to her daily routine, where she insists on dropping off her children at school everyday before heading to her office in a building overlooking the city. Growing up in England (with frequents visits to Syria during her childhood) has also given her a multicultural perspective; preparing her for her role as a roving ambassador for Syria. Yet it serves to remember that Asma is not the first Western-born consort to a Middle Eastern leader; as examples can be found throughout the history of the Middle East.
The late King Hussein of Jordan married two glamorous Western women. His second wife, Toni Gardiner, known as Princess Muna, (the mother of Jordan's current King Abdullah), was the daughter of a British Army officer. His fourth wife, Lisa Halaby, (Queen Noor) was the daughter of a former chief executive of Pan-Am Airways and one-time US deputy assistant secretary of defense. Even Suzanne Mubarak, the wife of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, comes from a multicultural background. She is the daughter of an Egyptian doctor and a Welsh nurse.
Not surprisingly, Asma has become a strong role model for women in Syria. In 2004 she attended a conference in Beirut on Arab women and war, and she remains the head of Mawred, a Syrian non-profit group she set up in 2003 to enhance the role of women in Syria's economic development.Despite this, it hasn’t been lost on some that Asma’s glossy informality is somewhat at odds with Syria’s more familiar image in the West. But in the last few years she has carefully been playing her part in breaking many of those misconceptions through dialogue and cultural exchange. According to her, “It’s only through interaction that we can begin to bring things together.”
In addition to kick-starting several initiatives to overhaul Syria’s economic and education system, she has also been the driving force behind a host of cultural events staged as part of Damascus’s year as Arab capital of culture, including a an exhibition of ceramics from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
A version of this article by Alex Aubry originally appeared in Dia Magazine
© THE POLYGLOT/ALEX AUBRY (all rights reserved) CHICAGO-PARIS
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