page_title: Akram al-Hawrani
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Akram al-Hawrani / Background
caption_attribution_description: English: The original header of Al-Hourani family tree, dated in 1519. The tree claim Al-Hourani family as descendant of the prophet Muhammad
context_page_description: Akram Al-Hourani, was a Syrian politician who played a prominent role in the formation of a widespread populist, nationalist movement in Syria and in the rise of the Ba'ath Party. He was highly influential in Syrian politics from the beginning of the 1940s until his departure into exile in 1963. Al-Hourani held various positions including a government ministry and the joint vice-presidency of the United Arab Republic. He is the grandfather of Akram Al-Hourani, a lecturer and researcher in wireless network engineering and signal processing at RMIT University in Australia.
context_section_description: Al-Hourani's family had its origins in the Arab al-Halqiyyin tribe and moved to Hama in central Syria from the town of Jasim in the southern Hawran region (hence the surname Al-Hourani.) Al-Hourani family is claimed to be descendant of the prophet Muhammad as per the family tree displayed in the museum of Hama. Akram Al-Hourani himself was born in Hama and grew up in modest circumstances as the family's wealth had dissipated. He was educated in Hama and Damascus.
  In 1936, he enrolled in the Damascus Law School, and became a member of the Syrian Social National Party. In 1938 he left the party and returned to Hama to practice law. There he took over the Hizb al-Shabab (Youth Party) founded by a cousin.
  The province of Hama in the earlier part of the twentieth century was characterised by feudalism, with landlords owning most of the land. The landlords exercised complete control over the peasantry, backed up by what amounted to private armies. Al-Hourani set about attacking this system  and called for agrarian reforms, giving him considerable popular support in Hama and its province, and in 1943 he was elected as a deputy to the Syrian Parliament. He retained his seat in the elections of 1947, 1949, 1954, and 1962.
  While it was in defence of social justice in his home region that Al-Hourani made his name, he also had a strong Arab nationalist outlook.
caption: The original header of Al-Hourani family tree, dated in 1519. The tree claims Al-Hourani family as descendant of the prophet Muhammad. It is now displayed in the museum of Hama.
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