President Assad Appointed Dr. Najah al-Attar as Vice President
DAMASCUS,(ST)_ President Bashar al-Assad yesterday issued a decree naming Dr. Najah al-Attar as vice president.
Worthy mentioning that Dr. Najah al-Attar came from a learned and educated family. Her father was a poet, who worked in judiciary and culture.
As a student, she participated in the struggle against e occupation in the Arab world and in support for the cause of Palestine.
Dr. Attar studied in Britain with her husband, Dr. Majid al-Azme, where she got a diploma in Islamic studies in 1956 and a doctorate in 1958 in literature. She also got several diplomas in international relations and in literary and art criticism.
She was a member of the Executive Office of the Writers’ Union and a member of the Supreme Council for the arts and literature. In the mid-1976 through March 13, 2000, she served as a minister of culture and President al-Assad appointed her as vice president in March 2006.
Over many years, Dr. Attar wrote critical studies in poetry, novels, theater and weekly editorials and countless articles in political literature and issued several books on literature, criticism, politics, and various studies.
She made a quantum leap in the work of the Ministry of Culture and a radical change in widening its institutions.
Dr. Attar contributed significantly to conferences of the Arab ministers of culture, since the founding conference, as well as innumerable cultural Arab, international and joint conferences, seminars, in countries around the world and chaired many conferences and seminars tackling intellectual and scientific issues.
She worked a lot in order to expand cultural exchanges between Syria and the Arab countries and world countries.
Dr. Attar was invested with several orders of merit, including :
1 “Friendship between peoples” granted by the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet council of the former USSR.
2 – “Polish culture” of the Government of Poland.
3 – The Order of “Merit of the senior officer” by French President Mitterrand in 1983.
4 – “Legion of Honor of Commander rank ” by President Mitterrand in 1992.
5 – “The great lady” of the Knights of Malta.
6 – “Holy Cross” by President of the Republic of Poland in 1999.
7 – Finally, “Medal of the Sacred Treasure ” from the Emperor of Japan in 2002 and the Medal of Honor from the President of the Republic of Chile in 2004.
Dr. Attar continues writing and is involved in numerous national, political and cultural forums and committees.
She believes that the cultural project is the first pilot project of our time in order to build the future.
T. Fateh