Akram Shammaa

Akram Shammaa was a prince of the Zengid dynasty that ruled Syria and parts of Iraq between 1127 and 1234. He was also a politician, lawyer, and real estate investor. He was born in Aleppo, Syria, on August 8, 1930, as the second son of Mostafa Shammaa Al Zengi, the fourth son of Prince Mohammad Shammaa Al Zengi III. He attended the Islamic college and then the law school at the University of Damascus, graduating in 1964. He was an activist in the civil rights movement and an opposition leader against the military regimes that dominated Syria between the 1950s and 1970s, including Adib al-Shishakli, Husni al-Za'im, and Hafez al-Assad. He organized and led the protests against al-Shishakli in 1953 and filed many cases against the Syrian government for seizing the family assets and feudal properties in 1947. He was kidnapped, tortured, banned from practicing law, and exiled to Lebanon in 1967. In Lebanon, he worked in the textile industry and played a role in the bloodless coup d'état that brought al-Assad to power in 1971. He was allowed to return to Syria in 1982 and worked as an investor in the real estate field. He died of natural causes in Aleppo on June 9, 2012, at the age of 81. He was survived by his wife Rima and seven children. He was a descendant of the Zengid dynasty that was founded by Imad ad-Din Zengi, a Turkish atabeg who became the Seljuk governor of Mosul and Aleppo. The Zengids were famous for their resistance against the Crusaders and their support for the revival of Sunni Islam. Akram Shammaa was proud of his Zengid heritage and tried to preserve it through his activism and legal actions. He was also known for his generosity, kindness, and wisdom.