Mohammad Riad Hussain Ismat () (11 July 1947 – 13 May 2020) was a Syrian writer, critic and theatre director. He served as Minister of Culture of Syria from 3 October 2010 to 23 June 2012.

Early life, education and career

Ismat studied English literature at the

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 graduated in 1968. In 2000, he became Rector of the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts, after years of teaching at the same institution. In 2003, Ismat became Director General of Syrian State Radio and Television, then held the post of Syrian Vice-Minister of Culture. In 2005, he was appointed Ambassador to Pakistan and, in 2010, Syrian Ambassador to

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

. In October 2010, he was appointed as Minister of Culture, serving in that post until 23 June 2012. From 2013 to 2014, he was a Buffett Center Visiting Scholar at

Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...

River Forest, Illinois River Forest is a suburban village adjacent to Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 11,717. Two universities make their home in River Forest, Dominican University (Ill ...

Theatre

Ismat directed more than 15 theatrical productions, including interpretations of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three ...

and

Frank Wedekind Benjamin Franklin Wedekind (July 24, 1864 – March 9, 1918) was a German playwright. His work, which often criticizes bourgeois attitudes (particularly towards sex), is considered to anticipate expressionism and was influential in the developme ...

, as well as producing his own personal vision of '' The Arabian Nights''. He founded the first mime troupe in Syria and taught mime, acting and directing at the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in Damascus. There, he taught the Stanislavsky-based method of acting. His breakthrough as a playwright came with ''The Game of Love & Revolution''. Among his best known dramatic works are: ''Was Dinner Good, dear Sister''; ''Mourning becomes Antigone''; ''Sindbad''; ''Shahryar's Nights''; ''Abla & Antar''; ''Mata Hari''; ''The Banana Republic'' and ''In Search of Zenobia''.

Publications

Ismat published 35 books, including short stories and several books on Arab and World drama. He also wrote a book on the Nobel Prize laureate

Naguib Mahfouz Naguib Mahfouz Abdelaziz Ibrahim Ahmed Al-Basha (, ; 11 December 1911 – 30 August 2006) was an Egyptian writer who won the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature. In awarding the prize, the Swedish Academy described him as a writer "who, through wo ...

and a book on cinema. As a television script writer, he wrote the scripts for seven television serials and directed his own television trilogy for Syrian TV, ''The Artist & Love'', 1985.

Death

Ismat died from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

Evanston, Illinois Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...

, on 13 May 2020, at age 72, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Illinois.

References

External links