Lutfi al-Haffar

Lutfi al-Haffar was a Syrian businessman and politician who played a prominent role in the struggle for independence from the French Mandate. He was born into a wealthy merchant family in Damascus and started his career in trade and commerce. He established the first modern public water system in Damascus by pumping water from the Ayn al-Fijeh spring to the city. He joined the political scene in 1922 as a member of the People's Party, which advocated the unity of Greater Syria and the abolition of the French Mandate. He was arrested and banned by the French authorities for his involvement in the 1925 uprising in Jabal al-Druze. He later became a founding member of the National Bloc, the main nationalist coalition that opposed the French occupation. He was elected to the national constitutional assembly in 1928 and participated in drafting Syria's first republican constitution. He also organized and took part in the 1936 Syrian general strike, which forced the French to negotiate with the Bloc and sign the Franco-Syrian Treaty of Independence. He served as the minister of public works and economy in several cabinets and became the prime minister of Syria in 1939. He resigned after two months due to French pressure and political disagreements. He remained active in the Bloc until 1947, when he retired from politics. He died in 1968 in Damascus at the age of 82.