Shukri al-Quwatli

President of Syria (1891–1967)

Shukri al-Quwatli (Arabic: شكري القوّتلي, romanized: Shukrī al-Quwwatlī; 6 May 1891 – 30 June 1967) was a Syrian politician and statesman who was the first president of post-independence Syria, in 1943. He began his career as a dissident working towards the independence and unity of the Ottoman Empire's Arab territories and was consequently imprisoned and tortured for his activism. When the Kingdom of Syria was established, Quwatli became a government official, though he was disillusioned with monarchism and co-founded the republican Independence Party.

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