Abd al-Rahman al-Kayyali explained

Abd al-Rahman al-Kayyali should not be confused with Abd Al-Rahman Al-Gillani.

Abd al-Rahman al-Kayyali
Arabic: عبد الرحمن الكيالي
Order:Minister of Justice and Education
Term Start1:21 December 1936
Term End1:18 February 1939
Predecessor1:Said al-Ghazzi
Successor1:Nasib al-Bakri
Term Start2:19 August 1943
Term End2:5 April 1945
Predecessor2:Faydi al-Atasi
Successor2:Said al-Ghazzi
Birth Date:1887
Birth Place:Aleppo, Ottoman Syria
Death Place:Aleppo, Syria

Abd al-Rahman al-Kayyali (Arabic: عبد الرحمن الكيالي; 1887 – 13 September 1969) was a physician from the city of Aleppo and member of the Syrian independence movement who served as the Minister of Justice and Education for two terms.

Biography

Born in Aleppo, al-Kayyali studied medicine at the Lebanese American University and graduated in 1914.[1] Upon the emergence of WWI, he served as a medic in the Ottoman Army in Al-Hamraa, Hama Governorate.

In 1919, al-Kayyali was among the founders of the Arab Club of Aleppo, a political salon and society that promoted Aleppine regionalism and Arab nationalism in Syria against the French rule during the Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon.[2]

Later on, he joined the National Bloc, in which he became a member of Parliament in 1928, 1936 and 1943. In the meantime, he served as the Minister of Justice and Education during the premiership of Jamil Mardam Bey, Saadallah al-Jabiri and Faris al-Khoury,[3] from 1936 to 1939 and from 1943 to 1945.

Al-Kayyali also served as a diplomat for Syria. After the formal independence of Syria following the Franco-Syrian Treaty of Independence in September 1936, he was appointed non-resident ambassador to the League of Nations by president Hashim al-Atassi, a position he quit after his nomination as a cabinet member in December 1936. From 1947 to 1949 he represented the Syrian Republic as a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly.[4]

Al-Kayyali died on 13 September 1969.[5]

Legacy

As a representative of the Aleppan bourgeoisie and a nationalist activist, al-Kayyali built strong ties with leaders of Syria's first independence movement, including Ibrahim Hananu, leader of the so-called Hananu Revolt against French rule. Kayyali can be considered one of the most prestigious citizens of Aleppo of his time and a Western educated proponent of anti-colonial nationalist ideology.[6]

One of al-Kayyali's grandsons, the dentist Mustafa Kayali (or Al-Kayyali), emerged as a prominent civil society activist during the Syrian uprising and was, according to media reports, among the authors of a document known as the "Code of Conduct for Syrian Coexistence" in 2017, endorsed by various Syrian community leaders.[7]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: https://www.alaraby.co.uk/diffah/revisions/2018/1/14/%D9%85%D8%AB%D9%82%D9%81%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%8A%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%88%D9%86-%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%A8%D9%85%D9%86%D8%AA%D8%B5%D9%81-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%B1%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%86. ar:مثقفون سياسيون سوريون ليبراليون بمنتصف القرن العشرين. alaraby.co.uk. ar. 15 January 2018.
  2. Book: Khoury, Philip Shukry. Syria and the French Mandate: The Politics of Arab Nationalism, 1920-1945. Princeton University Press. 1987. Princeton, New Jersey. 106.
  3. Book: White, Benjamin Thomas. Emergence of Minorities in the Middle East. 2012-09-11. Edinburgh University Press. 9780748688937. en.
  4. Book: Moubayed, Sami. 10.5040/9781350988880. The Makers Of Modern Syria. 2018. I.B. Tauris. 978-1-78673-455-6.
  5. Web site: https://syrmh.com/2019/07/27/عبد-الرحمن-الكيالي/ . ar:عبد الرحمن الكيالي . Syrian Modern History . ar .
  6. Book: Gelvin, James L.. Divided Loyalties: Nationalism and Mass Politics in Syria at the Close of Empire. University of California Press. 1951. Los Angeles / Berkeley. 85–86.
  7. Web site: Syria's Best of Enemies Breaking Good. Team. ICSR. 2018-01-18. ICSR. en-GB. 2019-10-23.