Nazira Jumblatt

Biography

Nazira Jumblatt (1890–1951) (Arabic: نظيره جنبلاط‎) was a Druze leader and the mother of Lebanese politician and Kamal Jumblatt. Nazira was born in 1890 and her parents were Faris and Afrida Said Joumblatt. Her maternal grandfather, Said, died in prison of tuberculosis on May 11, 1861. She was educated at home by her grandmother and private teachers and learned English and French. She married Fouad Joumblatt in 1905, when she was 15 years old. Their children were Kamal Jumblatt and Linda Al Atrash, killed in her home in East Beirut on May 27, 1976 during the civil war. Nazira assumed the political role and leadership of the Jumblatt family after the assassination of her husband Fouad Jumblatt in 1921. She ran the family affairs until 1943, when her son Kamal took over the reins of political leadership. and family. Unlike her son, she was close to the French authorities. Following the assassination of Fouad Jumblatt, the Jumblatt family groups, the Mukhtara and Biramiya groups, experienced internal conflicts. The first was led by Nazira, and the second by Ali Jumblatt and his son Hikmat who challenged Nazira's leadership. Nazira managed to end this struggle in 1937 when her daughter Linda married Hikmat. Thanks to Nazira's attempts, the Druze rebellion in Hauran, which occurred between 1925 and 1927, did not spread to other regions. One of his personal friends and advisors was Paul Peter Meouchi, a Maronite bishop. Nazira died on March 27, 1951. French novelist Pierre Benoit took inspiration from Nazira Jumblatt for the heroine of his 1924 novel La Châtelaine du Liban (the Chatelaine of Lebanon). Nazira Jumblatt's story is told in the 2003 Lebanese documentary Lady of the Palace.