Al-Assad family facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Al-Assad Family عَائِلَة الْأَسَد ʿāʾilat al-ʾAsad
The al-Assad family, c. 1993. Front: Hafez al-Assad and his wife, Anisa Makhlouf. Rear, left to right: Maher, Bashar, Bassel, Majd, and Bushra al-Assad
Current region	Latakia
Place of origin	Syria
Members	Hafez al-Assad Bashar al-Assad Maher al-Assad Rifaat al-Assad
Connected families	Makhlouf, Shalish

The al-Assad family (Arabic: عَائِلَة الْأَسَد ʿāʾilat al-ʾAsad) has ruled Syria since Hafez al-Assad became President of Syria in 1971 and established an authoritarian to totalitarian regime under the control of the Ba'ath Party. After his death in 2000, his son Bashar succeeded him.

The Assads are originally from Qardaha, just east of Latakia in north-west Syria. They are members of the minority Alawite sect and belong to the Kalbiyya tribe. The family name Assad goes back to 1927, when Ali Sulayman (1875–1963) changed his last name to al-Assad, Arabic for "the lion", possibly in connection with his social standing as a local mediator and his political activities. All members of the extended Assad family stem from Ali Sulayman and his second wife Naissa, who came from a village in the An-Nusayriyah Mountains.

Family connections continue to be important in Syrian politics. Several close family members of Hafez al-Assad have held important positions in the government since his rise to power and continuing after his death.

Images for kids

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  President Hafez al-Assad with his family in the early 1970s. Left to right: Bashar, Maher, Anisa Makhlouf, Majid, Bushra, and Bassel

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  Rifaat al-Assad and Hafez in the early 1980s

See also

In Spanish: Familia Ásad para niños