page_title: Al-Assad family
section_title: Hafez al-Assad
hierarchical_section_title: Al-Assad family / Hafez's family / Hafez al-Assad
caption_attribution_description: President Hafez al-Asad with his family in the early 1970s. From left to right: Bashar, Maher, Mrs Anisa Makhlouf (then the new First Lady of Syria), Majd, Bushra, and Basil.
context_page_description: The al-Assad family has ruled Syria since Hafez al-Assad became President of Syria in 1971 and established an authoritarian to totalitarian regime under the control of the Ba'ath Party. After his death in 2000, his son Bashar succeeded him.
  The Assads are originally from Qardaha, just east of Latakia in north-west Syria. They are members of the minority Alawite sect and belong to the Kalbiyya tribe. The family name Assad goes back to 1927, when Ali Sulayman changed his last name to al-Assad, Arabic for "the lion", possibly in connection with his social standing as a local mediator and his political activities. All members of the extended Assad family stem from Ali Sulayman and his second wife Naissa, who came from a village in the An-Nusayriyah Mountains.
  Family connections continue to be important in Syrian politics. Several close family members of Hafez al-Assad have held important positions in the government since his rise to power and continuing after his death.
context_section_description: Hafez al-Assad (1930–2000). President of Syria 1971–2000.
   Anisa Makhlouf (1930–2016), wife of Hafez and First Lady.
  Bushra al-Assad, died as an infant before 1960.
  Bushra al-Assad (born 1960) is a pharmacist and married with five children to:
   Gen. Assef Shawkat (1950–2012), was deputy-chief of staff of the Syrian army and the former head of military intelligence. He was killed on 18 July 2012 in a bombing in Damascus, during the Syrian Civil War.
  Bassel al-Assad (1962–1994), was the original candidate for presidential succession, however, he died in a car accident.
  Bashar al-Assad (born 1965), is the President of Syria since 2000. Before Bassel's death he was an ophthalmologist. He is married to Asma al-Assad (born 1975). She is the First Lady of Syria and takes a prominent public role. Before being married she was an investment banker. They have three children.
  Majid al-Assad (1966–2009), was an electrical engineer with a reported history of severe mental problems. Died after a long, unspecified illness. He was married to Ru’a Ayyoub (born 1976) and had no children. Majid died in Damascus on December 12, 2009.
  Maher al-Assad (born 1967), is the commander of the Republican Guard, which are also known as the Presidential Guard, and the army's elite Fourth Armored Division, which together with Syria's secret police form the core of the country's security forces. He is also a member of the Ba'ath Party central command and is said to have an aggressive and uncontrollable personality. He is married and has two daughters. He is reported to have been severely disabled in a 2012 bombing in Damascus during the Syrian Civil War. He reportedly shot Assef Shawkat in the stomach in October 1999, during an argument. Maher is also known by many to be the most ruthless in the Al-Assad family.
caption: President Hafez al-Assad with his family in the early 1970s. Left to right: Bashar, Maher, Anisa Makhlouf, Majid, Bushra, and Bassel
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