Abd al-Rahman al-Kayyali (; 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 In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

and

Education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

for two terms.

Biography

Born in

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

, al-Kayyali studied medicine at the

Lebanese American University The Lebanese American University (LAU; ) is a secular private American university with campuses in Beirut, Byblos, and New York. It is chartered by the board of regents of the University of the State of New York and is recognized by the Lebane ...

and graduated in 1914. Upon the emergence of

WWI World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting took place mainly in Europe and th ...

, he served as a medic in the

Ottoman Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire () was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. It was founded in 1299 and dissolved in 1922. Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the years ...

Al-Hamraa Al-Hamraa (, also spelled al-Hamra) is a village in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located northeast of Hama. Nearby localities include Jubb al-Othman to the northeast, Abu al-Thuhur to the north, Fan al-Sham ...

Hama Governorate Hama Governorate ( / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Ḥamā'') is one of the 14 Governorates of Syria, governorates of Syria. It is situated in western-central Syria, bordering Idlib Governorate, Idlib and Aleppo Governorates to the north, Raqqa Gove ...

. 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 The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon (; , also referred to as the Levant States; 1923−1946) was a League of Nations mandate founded in the aftermath of the First World War and the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire, concerning the territories ...

. 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

and

during the premiership of

Jamil Mardam Bey Jamil Mardam Bey (; ; 1895–1960), was a Syrian politician. He was born in Damascus to a prominent aristocratic family of Turkish origins. He is a descendant of the Ottoman general, statesman and Grand Vizier Lala Mustafa Pasha and the penulti ...

Saadallah al-Jabiri Saadallah al-Jabiri (; 1893–1947) was a Syrian statesman and politician who served as the two-time prime minister and a two-time Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of Syria. Jabiri was exiled by the French authorities to the village ...

and Faris al-Khoury, 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 The Franco-Syrian Treaty of Independence, also known as the Viénot Accords, was a treaty negotiated between France and Syria to provide for Syrian independence from French authority. History In 1934, France attempted to impose a treaty of indep ...

in September 1936, he was appointed

non-resident ambassador Dual accreditation is the practice in diplomacy of a country granting two separate responsibilities to a single diplomat. One prominent form of dual accreditation is for a diplomat to serve as the ambassador to two countries concurrently. For examp ...

to the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

by president

Hashim al-Atassi Hashim al-Atassi (; 11 January 1875 – 5 December 1960) was a Syrian politician and statesman who served as the President of Syria on three occasions from 1936 to 1939, 1949 to 1951 and 1954 to 1955. Background and early career He was bo ...

, a position he quit after his nomination as a cabinet member in December 1936. From 1947 to 1949 he represented the

Syrian Republic Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

as a delegate to the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its Seventy-ninth session of th ...

. Al-Kayyali died on 13 September 1969.

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 Ibrahim Hananu (1869–1935) was a Syrian revolutionary and former Ottoman municipal official who led a revolt against the French colonial presence in northern Syria in the early 1920s. He was a member of a notable landholding family of Kurdish ...

, leader of the so-called

Hananu Revolt The Hananu Revolt (also known as the Aleppo RevoltMoubayed 2006, p. 604. or the Northern revolts) was an insurgency against French military forces in northern Syria, mainly concentrated in the western countryside of Aleppo, in 1920–1921. Suppo ...

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. One of al-Kayyali's grandsons, the dentist Mustafa Kayali (or Al-Kayyali), emerged as a prominent civil society activist during the

Syrian revolution The Syrian revolution, also known as the Syrian Revolution of Dignity, was a series of mass protests and civilian uprisings throughout Syria – with a subsequent violent reaction by the Ba'athist regime – lasting from 15 March 2011 to 8 De ...

and was, according to media reports, among the authors of a document known as the "

Code of Conduct for Syrian Coexistence The Code of Conduct for Syrian Coexistence () is a document that stipulates eleven principles for the future of Syrian society. According to its authors and signatories these principles shall serve as a bedrock for a new social contract between diff ...

" in 2017, endorsed by various Syrian community leaders.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kayyali, Abd Al-Rahman 1887 births 1969 deaths Ministers of justice of Syria Syrian ministers of Awqaf Syrian Muslims People from Aleppo Lebanese American University alumni

Abd al-Rahman Abdelrahman or Abd al-Rahman or Abdul Rahman or Abdurrahman or Abdrrahman ( or occasionally ; DMG ''ʿAbd ar-Raḥman'') is a male Arabic Muslim given name, and in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' Abd'', ''al-'' and '' ...