Abd al-Razzaq al-Dandashi

Abd al-Razzaq al-Dandashi
Portrait of al-Dandashi
Secretary-General of League of Nationalist Action
In office 1932–1935
Personal details
Born	1889 Talkalakh, Vilayet of Syria, Ottoman Empire
Died	1935
Political party	League of Nationalist Action
Religion	Islam

Abd al-Razzaq al-Dandashi (Arabic: عبدالرزاق الرستم الدندشي‎‎; 1899–1935) was a Syrian intellectual and Arab nationalist activist. He was one of the founders of the League of Nationalist Action.

Biography

Al-Dandashi was born to the wealthy Dandashi clan, a major political family based in Talkalakh. Al-Dandashi graduated from a university in Belgium with a degree in law. During his time at the university, he participated in Arab activist circles. After returning to Syria, he established a law office.^[1]

In 1932, Dandashi and other Arab intellectuals convened in the Mount Lebanon village of Qarnayel and founded the League of Nationalist Action (LNA), a nationalist political group whose main goal was coordinated Arab action in ending European colonialism in the Arab world. Dandashi became the secretary-general of the LNA. With his leadership position, he built a large power base, consisting of intellectuals, lawyers, and student activists. Under al-Dandashi, the LNA emerged as a more confrontational counterweight to the National Bloc which ultimately favored negotiating Syria's independence from French rule through diplomatic and other non-violent means. According to Syrian historian Sami Moubayed, al-Dandashi was "an impassioned orator and a hard-line Arab nationalist".^[1]

Al-Dandashi died in 1935 when he looked out from the window while riding a train and his head subsequently struck a tunnel wall..^[1] Al-Dandashi's death, the subsequent defection of Zaki al-Arsuzi to the Ba'ath Party and the expulsion of Sabri al-Asali greatly reduced the influence of the LNA in Syrian politics.^[2]

References

Bibliography