Said Al-Ghazzi (; 11 June 1893 ‎ – 18 September 1967) was a

Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

lawyer, politician and two-time

prime minister of Syria The prime minister of Syria (), officially the president of the Council of Ministers of the Syrian Arab Republic, was the head of government of Syria from 1920 to 2025. After the fall of the Assad regime, the prime minister of Syria was the head ...

. He was born in

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

Early life

Said belonged to the prominent al-Ghazzi family, which was established in Damascus since the 14th century and which historically provided the leadership of the

Shafi'i The Shafi'i school or Shafi'i Madhhab () or Shafi'i is one of the four major schools of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It was founded by the Muslim scholar, jurist, and traditionis ...

madhhab A ''madhhab'' (, , pl. , ) refers to any school of thought within fiqh, Islamic jurisprudence. The major Sunni Islam, Sunni ''madhhab'' are Hanafi school, Hanafi, Maliki school, Maliki, Shafi'i school, Shafi'i and Hanbali school, Hanbali. They ...

(school of law) and produced dozens of noted scholars over the centuries. In the late 19th and early 20th century members of the family consistently held a seat in the municipal council and became increasingly involved in politics. Sa'id's great-grandfather Umar was the

mufti A mufti (; , ) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion ('' fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatāwa'' have played an important role thro ...

of the Shafi'is and was considered by a biographer to be the most preeminent of the notables of Damascus in his lifetime. He was implicated in the 1860 massacres of Christians in the city and imprisoned in

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

where he died the following year. Sa'id's eponymous grandfather voluntarily accompanied his father Umar but nothing more is heard of him. His son Abd al-Wahab was Sa'id's father.

Political career

A lawyer by occupation, Sa'id entered politics during French rule and following

Syria 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 ...

's independence in 1946. He served as the justice minister in 1936, 1945 and 1947. In 1946 he was the finance minister and in 1947 he also served as the national economy minister. In 1954 he was prime minister. The following year he was foreign minister. In 1962 Sa'id served as the president of the Speaker of the People's Assembly of Syria. His daughter Nadia al-Ghazzi is a lawyer, writer, and TV presenter, and his niece is the poet and artist Huda Naamani.

References

Bibliography

* * 1893 births 1967 deaths Maktab Anbar alumni Damascus University alumni People from Damascus Prime ministers of Syria Foreign ministers of Syria Ministers of justice of Syria Ministers of defense of Syria Ministers of finance of Syria Syrian ministers of Awqaf Speakers of the People's Assembly of Syria Politicians from Damascus 20th-century Syrian lawyers 20th-century Syrian politicians Al-Ghazzi family {{Syria-politician-stub