Asma al-Assad أسماء الأسد |
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First Lady of Syria | |
Incumbent | |
Assumed office December 2000 |
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Preceded by | Anisa Makhlouf |
Personal details | |
Born | Asma al-Akhras 11 August 1975 London, England |
Nationality | Syrian, British |
Spouse(s) | Bashar al-Assad |
Relations | Fawaz Akhras |
Children | Hafez, Zein and Karim al-Assad |
Alma mater | King's College London |
Asma al-Assad (Arabic: أسماء الأسد); born 11 August 1975; née Asma Fawaz al-Akhras (Arabic: أسماء فواز الأخرس), is the British-born First Lady of Syria.[1] She moved to Syria to marry President Bashar al-Assad in December 2000, having previously pursued a career in investment banking.
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Assad is the daughter of Fawaz Akhras, a consultant cardiologist at the Cromwell Hospital, London, and retired diplomat Sahar Otri al-Akhras. Her parents are Sunni and of Syrian origin, originally coming from Homs.[2][3] Assad grew up in Acton where she went to a local Church of England state school.[4] She finished her schooling at Queen's College in London, attended King's College London and graduated in 1996 with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and a Diploma in French Literature.[5]
After university, Assad started work at Deutsche Bank Group in the Hedge Fund Management division with clients in Europe and the Far East. In 1998, she joined the Investment Banking division of J.P. Morgan, specializing in mergers and acquisitions.
Asma met Bashar al-Assad during a holiday to Syria.[6] After Hafez al-Assad's death in 2000, Bashar took over the presidency of Syria. Asma emigrated to Syria in November 2000 and married Bashar in December. They have three children: Hafez, Zein and Karim.[2]
On 10 May 2011, a diplomatic source reported that Assad had taken her three children out of the country to avoid escalating violence in Syria and they were now in a safe house "in or near" London.[7] The Syrian ambassador to the United Kingdom, Sami Khiyami, denied that Assad had fled to London with her children.[8] On 30 June 2011, she was photographed greeting regime supporters in Damascus.[9]