Nazim al-Kudsi

Nazim al-Kudsi was a Syrian politician who served as President of Syria from 14 December 1961 to 8 March 1963. He was born in Aleppo on 14 February 1906 to a prominent family of Ottoman origin. He studied law at Damascus University, the American University of Beirut, and the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva. He joined the National Bloc, the leading anti-French independence movement, in 1935 and was elected to parliament in 1936. He resigned from the Bloc in 1939 after it failed to prevent the annexation of Alexandretta to Turkey. He founded the People's Party in 1947 with Rushdi al-Kikhya, a coalition of Aleppine intellectuals who advocated for union with Iraq, democracy, and stronger ties with the West. He served as Syria's first ambassador to the United States from 1945 to 1947, and as prime minister twice, in 1949 and 1950-1951. He was arrested by Adib al-Shishakli in 1951 and exiled until 1954. He then became the speaker of the parliament from 1954 to 1957. He retired from public life in 1958 after the formation of the United Arab Republic. He returned to politics in 1961 after the dissolution of the UAR and was elected president with the support of the secessionist military officers. He restored the political parties, the private sector, and the diplomatic relations with the anti-Nasserist countries. He also tried to reduce the military's influence in politics, which led to several coup attempts against him. He was eventually overthrown by the Ba'ath Party in 1963 and fled to Lebanon, then to Jordan. He died in Amman on 6 February 1998 at the age of 91.