Adil Arslân (1880 – 23 January 1954) ( ar, عادل أرسلان) was an Ottoman politician, writer and poet from Syria. He was the older brother of the two princes

Shakib Arslan Shakib Arslan ( ar, شكيب أرسلان, 25 December 1869 – 9 December 1946) was a Druze prince (amir) in Lebanon who was known as ' (Arabic for "Prince of Eloquence") because in addition to being a politician, he was also an influential writ ...

and Nasib Arslan. He was a deputy for Lebanon in the

Ottoman Parliament The General Assembly ( tr, Meclis-i Umumî (French romanization: "Medjliss Oumoumi" ) or ''Genel Parlamento''; french: Assemblée Générale) was the first attempt at representative democracy by the imperial government of the Ottoman Empire. Als ...

, Deputy Governor General in Syria (1918-1919) and adviser to King Faisal of Iraq and Syria (1919-1920).

Early life

Adil was born in 1880 in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

a city which was then under Ottoman rule. His father, Prince Hammoud ben Hassan Arslan, was descended from the princes of

Mount Lebanon Mount Lebanon ( ar, جَبَل لُبْنَان, ''jabal lubnān'', ; syr, ܛܘܪ ܠܒ݂ܢܢ, ', , ''ṭūr lewnōn'' french: Mont Liban) is a mountain range in Lebanon. It averages above in elevation, with its peak at . Geography The Mount Le ...

. Adil's brothers are Prince Nassib, Prince Shakib and

Prince Hassan Prince Hassan bin Talal ( ar, الحسن بن طلال, born 20 March 1947) is a member of the Jordanian royal family who was previously Crown Prince from 1965 to 1999, being removed just three weeks before Hussein of Jordan, King Hussein's death ...

. He attended the American school of

Choueifat Choueifat ( ar, شويفات, also transliterated Shuwayfat) is one of the biggest and most important cities in southeast of Beirut in Lebanon. The town is a Druze enclave that lies on the eastern side of Beirut's airport. The local population of ...

where he was taught by the writer Boutros Al-Bustani. Later, he would settle again in his native

, where he studied in his higher education. After which he traveled to the capital of the Ottoman Empire,

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, where he enrolled the Faculty of Law and Public Administration.

Career

Ottoman Empire

Between 1908 and 1912, he was appointed as a member of the Council of Ottoman Representatives for

which made him the youngest member of the board. After which he will be appointed in 1913 1st Secretary attached to the Ministry of the Interior of Istanbul, then responsible for immigration for Syria in 1914, the equivalent of the Ministry the Interior. In 1915, he was appointed deputy mayor of the

Chouf Chouf (also spelled Shouf, Shuf or Chuf, in ''Jabal ash-Shouf''; french: La Montagne du Chouf) is a historic region of Lebanon, as well as an administrative district in the governorate (muhafazat) of Mount Lebanon. Geography Located south-east ...

region in

and in 1916

Kaymakam Kaymakam, also known by many other romanizations, was a title used by various officials of the Ottoman Empire, including acting grand viziers, governors of provincial sanjaks, and administrators of district kazas. The title has been retained an ...

appointed by the

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

. In context of the

Great Arab Revolt The Arab Revolt ( ar, الثورة العربية, ) or the Great Arab Revolt ( ar, الثورة العربية الكبرى, ) was a military uprising of Arab forces against the Ottoman Empire in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. On t ...

he then joined the

Young Arab Society Al-Fatat or the Young Arab Society ( ar, جمعية العربية الفتاة, Jam’iyat al-’Arabiya al-Fatat) was an underground Arab nationalist organization in the Ottoman Empire. Its aims were to gain independence and unify various Arab t ...

where he engage in secret organizations to demand the independence of

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

countries and the establishment of a United Arab State.

Syria

He assisted in the establishment in

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

in King Faisal's government, of which he was appointed as a 'special secretary'. Then he was appointed administrative assistant to the Prime Minister until the prince's forfeiture. In 1925, Arslan joined the Syrian revolutionaries alongside

Sultan Pasha al-Atrash Sultan al-Atrash, (March 5, 1891 – March 26, 1982) ( ar, سلطان الأطرش), commonly known as Sultan Pasha al-Atrash ( ar, سلطان باشا الأطرش, links=no) was a prominent Arab Druze leader, Syrian nationalist and Commander Ge ...

to participate in the

Great Syrian Revolt The Great Syrian Revolt ( ar, الثورة السورية الكبرى) or Revolt of 1925 was a general uprising across the State of Syria and Greater Lebanon during the period of 1925 to 1927. The leading rebel forces comprised fighters of the ...

against French colonialism. But after the failure of 1926, he was forced to flee Syria, pursued by the French and sentenced to death in absentia. In 1937, he was appointed head of the delegation of the

Arab High Committee The Arab Higher Committee ( ar, اللجنة العربية العليا) or the Higher National Committee was the central political organ of the Arab Palestinians in Mandatory Palestine. It was established on 25 April 1936, on the initiative o ...

which sits in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

. After Syria's independence in 1946, he returned to

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

and was appointed into several governments as Minister of Education, Health and Social Affairs in 1948, and as

Minister of Defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

and Foreign Affairs. In 1948, he was elected representative of the Golan and Vice-president of Syria. He was then appointed

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

and

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

11 under the government of Hosni al-Zaeem.{{Cite web , title=La Liberté — Browse by title — e-newspaperarchives.ch , url=http://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=cl&cl=CL1&sp=LLE , access-date=2022-03-01 , website=www.e-newspaperarchives.ch , language=en , archive-date=2021-10-23 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211023044710/https://www.e-newspaperarchives.ch/?a=cl&cl=CL1&sp=LLE , url-status=live

References

Lebanese Druze Syrian Druze Druze people from the Ottoman Empire 1880 births 1954 deaths Ottoman Arab nationalists Syrian politicians