Maamun al-Kuzbari

Maamun al-Kuzbari مأمون الكزبري


Vice President of Syria
In office 25 February 1952 – 28 February 1954
Prime Minister of Syria
In office 29 September 1961 – 20 November 1961
Preceded by	Abdel Hamid al-Sarraj (as part of the UAR)
Succeeded by	Izzat al-Nuss
Speaker of the Parliament of Syria
In office 24 October 1953 – 16 February 1954
Preceded by	Nazim al-Kudsi
Succeeded by	Nazim al-Kudsi
In office 12 December 1961 – 12 September 1962
Preceded by	Said al-Ghazzi
Personal details
Born	1914 Damascus, Syria
Died	1998 (aged 84) Beirut, Lebanon
Political party	Arab Liberation Movement
Religion	Sunni Islam

Maamun al-Kuzbari (1914–1998) (Arabic: مأمون الكزبري‎‎) was a Syrian literary personality, politician and acting head of state (29 September - 20 November 1961) from a prominent Damascus family.

Career

He studied International law at the University of Lyon's affiliate Saint Joseph University in Beirut and became an attorney in Damascus in 1943 and a professor at Damascus University in 1948. He entered parliament as an independent in 1953, allying himself with military strongman Adib al-Shishakli. He was elected Speaker of parliament and chairman of the Constitutional Assembly charged by Shishakli to amend the constitution. Shishakli also appointed him secretary general of the Arab Liberation Movement (ALM), Shishakli's political vehicle. He also managed the party's daily newspaper, Al Tahrir al Arabi ("The Arab Liberation").

After Shishakli was overthrown, Kuzbari in his position as Speaker, and according to the constitution, was declared acting President in an emergency session of parliament on February 25, 1954. He succeeded in avoiding military confrontation among the supporters and opponents of Shishakli within the Syrian army and called the former President Hashim al-Atassi, whose administration was interrupted by Shishakli's coup in 1949, to come back to Damascus in order to complete his term.

Kuzbari remained head of the ALM. He participated in the new elections and returned to parliament in October of that year. In February 1955 he was appointed minister of justice under Prime Minister Sabri al Asali and in September of that same year he became minister of education under Prime Minister Said al-Ghazzi. He kept that post until June, 1956. In May 1956 he became acting president of Damascus University. In 1958, under president Shukri al-Kuwatli, Kuzbari took part, as a member of the government, in unification talks with Egypt that resulted in the formation of the United Arab Republic. He was politically inactive during the union and became President of the Syrian Lawyers Bar.

Three years later he endorsed the 1961 Syrian coup d'état that dissolved the UAR. One of the leading officers of that coup was Kuzbari's cousin, Haydar al-Kuzbari, and the coup leaders asked Mamoun to form the first post-UAR government. He formed a cabinet consisting mainly of technocrats and university professors. He assumed in addition to his role as prime minister, the ministry of Defense and Foreign Affairs and acted as president until his resignation in November 1961. His main objective was to re-establish an elected democratic government through a free and democratic elections. Parliamentary elections took place in December 1961. Kuzbari was elected again as a deputy in parliament and Speaker. Nazim al-Kudsi became president. On March 28, 1962 both Kuzbari and Kudsi were arrested in an attempted coup by military strongman Abd al-Karim al-Nahlawi, but were released when it failed. He remained speaker until September 12, 1962.

He represented Syria in the Non-Aligned Movement Conferences in Bandung on 1955 and in several other international conferences.

Exile and death

He was exiled after another coup on March 8, 1963 and settled for a short time in France before relocating to Morocco. He taught at Rabat, Casablanca and Marrakech Universities. He taught and published several books in Syria and Morocco in the interpretation of civil law. He actively participated in propagation of the Arab language in the Moroccan universities and courts. His books are used as reference in the Moroccan courts.

He moved to Lebanon in 1996 when that country's civil war ended. He died in Beirut in 1998 and was buried in Damascus.

References

Sami Moubayed "Steel & Silk: Men and Women Who Shaped Syria 1900-2000" (Cune Press, Seattle, 2005).

Presidents of Syria

French Mandate	Subhi Bey Barakat François Pierre-Alype^AP Ahmad Nami Taj al-Din al-Hasani^AP Léon Solomiac^AP Mohammed Ali Bey al-Abed Hashim al-Atassi Bahij al-Khatib Khalid al-Azm^AP Taj al-Din al-Hasani Jamil al-Ulshi^AP Ata Bey al-Ayyubi Shukri al-Quwatli

Syrian Republic	Shukri al-Quwatli Husni al-Za'im^† Sami al-Hinnawi^AP^† Hashim al-Atassi Adib Shishakli^AP^† Fawzi Selu^† Adib Shishakli Maamun al-Kuzbari^AP^† Hashim al-Atassi Shukri al-Quwatli

United Arab Republic	Gamal Abdel Nasser

Syrian Arab Republic	Maamun al-Kuzbari^AP Izzat al-Nuss^AP^† Nazim al-Kudsi Lu'ay al-Atassi^† Amin al-Hafiz^† Nureddin al-Atassi^† Ahmad al-Khatib^AP Hafez al-Assad Abdul Halim Khaddam^AP Bashar al-Assad

^AP: Acting president; ^†: Military

Prime Ministers of Syria since 1920

Kingdom of Syria (1920)	al-Rikabi H. al-Atassi* al-Durubi al-Ulshi

French Mandate of Syria (1920–1946) post established 1932	H. al-Azm al-Hasani A. al-Ayyubi Mardam al-Haffar al-Bukhari post vacant, 1939–41 K. al-Azm al-Hakim H. al-Barazi al-Ulshi al-Jabiri al-Khoury al-Jabiri

Syrian Republic (1946–1958)	al-Jabiri K. al-Azm* Mardam K. al-Azm al-Za'im M. al-Barazi H. al-Atassi al-Kudsi K. al-Azm al-Kudsi K. al-Azm al-Hakim al-Khatib al-Dawalibi Selu Shishakli al-Asali al-Ghazzi al-Khoury al-Asali al-Ghazzi al-Asali

United Arab Republic (1958–1961)	Kahala Sarraj

Syrian Arab Republic (1961–present)	al-Kuzbari al-Nuss al-Dawalibi al-Azma K. al-Azm al-Bitar al-Hafiz al-Bitar al-Hafiz Zuaiyin al-Bitar Zuaiyin N. al-Atassi al-Assad Khleifawi M. al-Ayyubi Khleifawi al-Halabi al-Kasm Zuabi Mero al-Otari Safar Hijab Ghalawanji* al-Halqi Khamis

* acting

Speakers of the Parliament of Syria since 1919

al-Atassi* Muayyad al-Atassi al-Khoury al-Jabiri al-Khoury Kikhia al-Dawalibi al-Kudsi al-Kuzbari al-Kudsi al-Hawrani Sadat† al-Kuzbari Ghazzi al-Atrash al-Khatib al-Yusufi al-Halabi Hadid Zuabi Kaddoura al-Otari al-Abrash al-Laham Abbas

*president of the Syrian National Congress †within the UAR

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 8756638 LCCN: n83044928

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