Nazira Jumblatt
Born1890
Died27 March 1951 (aged 60–61)
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1905)​
Children
Parents
  • Faris Jumblatt (father)
  • Afrida Said Jumblatt (mother)

Nazira Jumblatt (1890–1951) (Arabic: نظيره جنبلاط) was a Druze leader and the mother of Lebanese politician and Kamal Jumblatt. She was styled sitt (lady in Arabic).[1]

Biography

The Jumblatt family palace in Moukhtara, 1861

Nazira was born in 1890, and her parents were Faris and Afrida Said Jumblatt.[2] Her maternal grandfather, Said, died in prison of tuberculosis on 11 May 1861.[3] She was educated at home by her grandmother and private teachers and learned both English and French.[2]

She married Fouad Jumblatt in 1905 when she was 15.[2] Their children were Kamal Jumblatt and Linda Al Atrash who was killed in her house in East Beirut on 27 May 1976 during the civil war.[2][4][5] Nazira took on the political role and the leadership of the Jumblatt family upon the assassination of her husband Fouad Jumblatt in 1921.[2][6] She ran the family affairs until 1943 when her son Kamal took the reins of political and family leadership into his own hands.[2][6] Unlike her son, she was close to the French authorities.[2]

Following the assassination of Fouad Jumblatt, the Jumblatt family groups, the Mukhtara and the Biramiya groups, had internal conflicts.[6] The former was led by Nazira, and the latter by Ali Jumblatt and his son Hikmat who challenged the leadership of Nazira.[6] Nazira managed to end this struggle in 1937 when her daughter Linda married Hikmat.[6] Through Nazira's attempts the Druze rebellion in Hauran occurred between 1925 and 1927 did not expand to other regions.[6] One of her personal friend and and advisers was Paul Peter Meouchi, a Maronite bishop.[7] Nazira died on 27 March 1951.[8]

Legacy

French novelist Pierre Benoit used Al-Sitt Nazira as the model for the heroine of his 1924 novel La Châtelaine du Liban (the Châtelaine of Lebanon).[9][10] Sitt Nazira was also the main subject of the 2003 Lebanese documentary Lady of the Palace.

References

  1. ↑ Bernard Reich, ed. (1990). Political Leaders of the Contemporary Middle East and North Africa: A Biographical Dictionary. New York; Westport, CT; London: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-26213-5.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Eyal Zisser (2017). "Under the Glass Ceiling and in the Family 'Cage': The Role of Women in Lebanese Politics". Interdisciplinary Middle Eastern Studies. 1: 13–16.
  3. ↑ Kamal S. Salibi (1965). The Modern History of Lebanon. New York: Frederick A. Praeger. p. 109. hdl:2027/heb00935.0001.001. OCLC 317457986.
  4. ↑ Fawwaz Traboulsi (2012). A History of Modern Lebanon (2nd ed.). London: Pluto Press. p. 206. doi:10.2307/j.ctt183p4f5. ISBN 9780745332741. JSTOR j.ctt183p4f5.
  5. ↑ Henry Tanner (18 May 1976). "Sister of Moslem Leader Is Murdered in Lebanon". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Yusri Hazran (2015). "How Elites Can Maintain their Power in the Middle East: The Junblat Family as a Case Study". Middle Eastern Studies. 51 (3): 356–357. doi:10.1080/00263206.2014.976621. S2CID 143880985.
  7. ↑ Sami E. Baroudi (2006). "Divergent Perspectives among Lebanon's Maronites during the 1958 Crisis". Critique: Critical Middle Eastern Studies. 15 (1): 13. doi:10.1080/10669920500515093.
  8. ↑ "Timeline. Death of Nazirah Jumblatt". Kamal Jumblatt Digital Library. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  9. ↑ Travaux et jours (in French). Beirut: Université Saint-Joseph. 1998. p. 112.
  10. ↑ Edmond Jouve (1991). Pierre Benoit, témoin de son temps: actes du colloque de l'Association des écrivains de langue française (ADELF) à Masclat (Lot) (in French). Editions Albin Michel. ISBN 978-2-226-05705-1.
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