In December 2010 and the following months, demonstrations against corruption, poverty and political repression swept Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Syria. Around the same time in 2011, Vogue magazine published a profile on Asma al-Assad, the wife of then-Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. It was titled “A Rose in the Desert”, and in the words of author Joan Juliet Buck, Asma was “the freshest and most charming of the First Ladies”.
In 2024, the Assad dynasty falls. Asma, once the “buzzling” of a brutal presidency that oversaw the killing of 580,000 people – almost half of them civilians – has filed for divorce. Ms. Buck described her as “the First Lady of Hell” in her recent writings.
Reports from Turkish and Arab media suggest that she is living in Moscow with her husband and their three children. Asma has sought special permission from the Russian authorities to leave the country and return to the United Kingdom.
Asma, who holds British citizenship, has been declared “no longer welcome” in the country by UK authorities, citing sanctions imposed in 2012 due to her ties to her husband’s regime. His reputation was tarnished by allegations of standing by Bashar during the Syrian civil war, profiting from the war, and benefiting from foreign aid through his charity.
Who is Asma al-Assad?
Asma Akhras (as she was known before marriage) was born on 11 August 1975 in London, to Syrian parents from Homs. He holds dual British-Syrian citizenship.
He attended Twyford Church of England High School and Queens College, London. He graduated from King’s College London in 1996 with a degree in Computer Science and French Literature.
He worked as an analyst at Deutsche Bank and later JPMorgan.
As First Lady of Syria, she was known for promoting women’s rights and social development initiatives, including the Syria Trust for Development. However, these efforts ceased with the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011.
Asma faced EU sanctions withholding financial aid and a travel ban due to its ties to the Assad regime. She was also the subject of a UK investigation into war crimes, including allegations of supporting torture and the use of chemical weapons. She was facing possible terrorism charges.
The 48-year-old man is suffering from cancer and was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in May. She previously battled breast cancer in 2018 and underwent chemotherapy in Syria.
How did Asma and Bashar al-Assad meet?
Asma and Bashar al-Assad met during childhood holidays in Syria, as her family frequently visited Britain. Their relationship deepened when Bashar moved to London in 1992 to train as an ophthalmologist at the Western Eye Hospital. The couple married in 2000, shortly after Bashar assumed the presidency following the death of his father. They have three children: Hafez, Zein and Kareem.
How did the Assad dynasty fall?
Bashar al-Assad’s rule, which relied heavily on his inner circle of family members, ended five decades of Alawite dominance in the predominantly Sunni nation. The family’s fortunes changed sharply after rebel forces swept into Damascus, forcing Assad to flee and effectively ending the regime’s decades-long grip on power in Syria.
