Munīr al-Rayyis (1901–1992) was a prominent Syrian newspaper editor and writer. Munir was born in Damascus which was at the time part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. He studied literature at

Damascus University Damascus University () is the largest and oldest university in Syria, located in the capital Damascus, with campuses in other Syrian cities. It was founded in 1923 as the Syrian University () through the merger of the Faculty of Medicine of Dama ...

and in 1919 began to work for the Ministry of Education. In the same year, be began writing for the newspapers ''al-Ayyam'' (Damascus) and ''al-Hayat'' (Beirut). Munir opposed 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 ...

imposed in 1920 and in 1925 left his job to join the revolt of

Sultan al-Atrash Sultan al-Atrash (; 5 March 1891 – 26 March 1982) was a Syrian nationalist revolutionary who led the Great Syrian Revolt against the French colonial administration in Syria. One of the most influential figures in Syrian and Druze history, he ...

. At the end of the revolt, in 1927, Rayyes returned to Damascus, where he was a regular writer for ''al-Hayyat''. In August 1933 Rayyes became a founder member of the

League of Nationalist 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 ...

, whose goal was to remove foreign political influence in the region. With the fading of the League in 1935, Rayyes moved to Palestine from 1936 to 1938 to join Hajj Amin al-Husseini in the 1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine. In 1938 he became the director of political affairs at the Damascus police department. In 1945, he founded the newspaper, ''Barada'', working as its editor-in-chief, and another in support of

Husni al-Za'im Husni al-Za'im ( ''Ḥusnī az-Za’īm''; 11 May 1897 – 14 August 1949) was a Syrian military officer of Kurdish origins who served as head of state of Syria in 1949. He had been an officer in the Ottoman Army. After France instituted its co ...

's 1949 coup, called ''al-Inkilab'' (''The Coup d'Etat''). His journalism included campaigning for women's emancipation (including giving his wife, Thuraya Al-Hafez, a platform; he also encouraged her to stand for election in 1953). On August 25, 1952, Barada merged with the Damascus daily paper ''al-Manar al-Jadid'' on the orders of

Adib Shishakli Adib ash-Shishakli (1909 – 27 September 1964, ) was a Syrian military officer who served as President of Syria briefly in 1951 and later from 1953 to 1954. He was overthrown and later assassinated. Early life Adib Shishakli was born in th ...

, becoming ''al-Liwaa''. The owner of ''al-Manar al-Jadid'', Bashir al-Ouff, became editor-in-chief of the new paper, and Rayyes the director, until in 1954 the papers were split again. 1954 also saw a short-lived experiment with running a shareholding company to print Syria's four main papers, ''

al-Qabas ''Al-Qabas'' () is an Arabic daily Kuwaiti newspaper and tabloid published by Dar Al Qabas Press Printing Publishing and Distribution Company in Kuwait City. History and profile ''Al-Qabas'' was launched on 22 February 1972. The founding share ...

'', '' al-Ayyam'', '' Alif Ba''', and ''

al-Sham Syria, ( or ''Shaam'') also known as Greater Syria or Syria-Palestine, is a historical region located east of the Mediterranean Sea in West Asia, broadly synonymous with the Levant. The region boundaries have changed throughout history. Howe ...

''. Rayyes supported Arab nationalist movements in the 1950s and

Gamal Abdel Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian military officer and revolutionary who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 a ...

of Egypt both during and after the

United Arab Republic The United Arab Republic (UAR; ) was a sovereign state in the Middle East from 1958 to 1971. It was initially a short-lived political union between Republic of Egypt (1953–1958), Egypt (including Occupation of the Gaza Strip by the United Ara ...

. Rayyes supported the

1963 Syrian coup d'état The 1963 Syrian coup d'état, labelled in Ba'athist historiography as the "March 8 Revolution" (), was the seizure of power in Syrian Republic (1946-63), Syria by the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region#Military Bureau, military commi ...

but once their power was established, the Baath party closed ''Barada''. Rayyes is also noted for his book ''Al-Kitāb al-Dhahabī li'l-Thawrāt al-Waṭaniyya fī al-Mashriq al-ʿArabī: al-Thawra al-Sūriyya al-Kubrā'' (''The Golden Book of Nationalist Revolutions in the Arab East'').(Beirut: Dār al-Ṭalīʿa li'l-Ṭabāʿa wa'l-Nashr, 1966)

References

{{authority control 1901 births 1992 deaths Syrian writers People of the Great Syrian Revolt Writers from Damascus

Further reading

References