Ahmad al-Sharabati (; 1909 – 1975) was a Syrian politician and the defense minister of Syria between 1946 and 1948, serving in the post as Syria gained its independence from France and during the early days of the

1948 Arab-Israeli War Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

Early life

Sharabati was born in Damascus in 1909, during Ottoman rule. His father, Uthman al-Sharabati, was a well-established merchant and a financier of the nationalist resistance movement against French Mandatory rule, which began in 1920. Ahmad was an engineer by trade, obtaining his graduate degree from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

, after being a student at the

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB; ) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its main campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, autonomous board of trustees and offers programs le ...

.Moubayed, 2006, p. 332.

Political career

French Mandatory rule

Sharabati returned to Damascus where he operated a tobacco plant and as a representative for

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

. In 1933, he helped co-found the Arab nationalist and anti-colonial organization, the

League of National Action The League of Nationalist Action ( ''‘Usbat al-'Amal al-Qawmi''; ), was a Syrian Arab nationalist anti-colonial political party, created in 1932–1933 by a lawyer of Homs, Abd al-Razzaq al-Dandashi. History Its founders were opposed to the ...

(LNA). The LNA called for the liberation of Arab countries from French and British rule and for the post-colonial economic integration of the Arab world. He left the LNA in 1936 to join the most prominent independence movement in Mandatory Syria, the National Bloc. Sharabati struck a particular alliance with the National Bloc's Damascus-based leaders, such as

Shukri al-Quwatli Shukri al-Quwatli (; 6 May 189130 June 1967) was a Syrian politician and statesman who was the first president of post-independence Syria, in 1943. He began his career as a dissident working towards the independence and unity of the Ottoman Em ...

and

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 ...

. Sharabati ran for parliament as a representative of Damascus in 1943, winning the seat. He was appointed by Prime Minister Fares al-Khoury education and national economy minister in March 1945. A year later, Syria gained full independence from France and was appointed defense minister by Prime Minister

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 ...

, despite scant knowledge and experience in military affairs. Sharabati's ally, President Quwatli tasked him to establish the post-independent

Syrian Army The Syrian Army is the land force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. Up until the fall of the Assad regime, the Syrian Arab Army existed as a land force branch of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces, which dominanted the military service of the fo ...

and was entrusted to win the favor of officers, which he was not able to do successfully.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharabati, Ahmad al- 1909 births 1975 deaths Syrian Arab nationalists Syrian nationalists Ministers of defense of Syria Ministers of education of Syria Ministers of economy of Syria National Bloc (Syria) politicians Syrian people of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War Arab people from the Ottoman Empire 20th-century Syrian people Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni American University of Beirut alumni