Duraid Lahham

Lahham was born in Syria in 1934 to a Syrian father and a Lebanese mother from Machghara. He grew up in poverty and had to work at several odd jobs to earn a living. He later would recall these difficult days, saying that he used to buy used clothes, reserved for the poor in Syria, and barely made enough money to feed himself. He enrolled at the University of Damascus and studied chemistry. During his college years, he was active in a form of folklore Levantine dance called "dabke" and became obsessed with acting. When he completed his education, Lahham became an instructor at the Chemistry Department at the University. Meanwhile, Lahham gave dancing classes and enhanced his relationship with the artistic community in Syria. When Syrian Television was launched in 1960, Lahham was hired along with his friend Nihad Qali to act a series of short episodes called Damascus Evening (Sahret Demashq).[1]

During the 1970s, Lahham acted in several political plays which gained large popularity throughout the Arab World for their critique of prevailing social and political conditions in various Arab countries.

From 1960 to 1976, Lahham and Qali formed a pair, called "Duraid and Nihad," that became highly successful and famous among various Arab audiences. However, by 1976, Nihad had to retire as he suffered from an illness. From that on, Lahham started to write, act and direct his work .

Lahham's work was greatly influenced by the political events in the Arab World and this was reflected in the different plays he wrote and directed.[2] His films also carry political overtones and have been described as "deal[ing] with the artificiality and impracticality of borders between Arab states and with the abuse of human rights in the Arab world."[3]

Lahham was appointed UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador to the Middle East and North Africa region in 1999. In 2004, he visited districts of Southern Lebanon which had been liberated from Israeli occupation, and gave a speech at a press conference criticizing George W. Bush and Ariel Sharon, comparing them to Hitler. This caused Tel Aviv to protest Lahham's "undiplomatic language" to the UNICEF, which resulted in the UNICEF relieving him of his duties.[4]

Lahham received several medals in recognition of his contributions:

• In 1976, Hafez al-Assad, Syrian President at the time, awarded Lahham with the Order of Civil Merit, Excellence Class.
• In 1979, Tunisian President Habib Bourguiba awarded him with a medal in recognition of his work
• In 1991, Libyan President Muammar al-Gaddafi awarded him a medal
• In 2000, Lahham received The Order of Merit of the Lebanese Republic, awarded to him by Lebanese President Émile Lahoud[5]

• Duraid Lahham's Official Web Site
• Duraid Lahham's series of articles in Forward Magazine