Nazira Jumblatt

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]

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

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. 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. 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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