Ahmad Nami
أحمد نامي
Ahmad Nami dressed in fullMasonic attire in 1925
President of Syria
In office 28 April 1926 – 15 February 1928
Preceded by	Subhi Bey Barakat
Succeeded by	Taj al-Din al-Hasani
Prime Minister of Syria
In office 28 April 1926 – 15 February 1928
Preceded by	Subhi Bey Barakat
Succeeded by	Taj al-Din al-Hasani
Personal details
Born	Ahmed Nami 1873 Beirut,Beirut Vilayet,Ottoman Empire
Died	13 December 1962(1962-12-13) (aged 88–89) Beirut,Lebanon
Party	Independent
Spouse	Ayşe Sultan ​ ​ (m. 1910; div. 1921)​

"Al-Damad" Ahmad Nami or"Damat" Ahmet Nami (Arabic:أحمد نامي,romanized: Aḥmad Nāmī;‎ 1873 – 13 December 1962^[1][2]) was anOttoman prince (damat), theprime minister of Syria andpresident of Syria (1926–28), and a lecturer of history and politics.

His first language wasTurkish and could hardly speak Arabic.^[3]

Ahmad Nami was born in 1873 inBeirut to an affluent family related to theOttoman dynasty. He was ofTurkish andCircassian origin,^[4] and his father Fakhri Bey was governor of Beirut during the Ottoman rule.^[5]

Nami studied in theOttoman Military Academy and received military training inParis. He marriedAyşe Sultan, the daughter of SultanAbdul Hamid II in 1910. By 1909, the family were forced into exile inFrance when Nami's father-in-law, the Sultan, was overthrown from his throne by theYoung Turks. Nami moved back to Beirut in 1918 where he administered his family’s enterprises.^[6]

In July 1920, the French officers in the region delegated Nami to form a government in Syria and gave him limited presidential powers. By April 26, 1926, Nami created his official cabinet and appointedHusni al-Barazi as Minister of Interior,Faris al-Khury as Minister of Education, andLutfi al-Haffar as Minister of Commerce. However, in June 1926 the ministers all resigned from their posts to protest the French policies toward their nationalist movement; they were then arrested by the FrenchHigh Commissioner of the LevantHenry de Jouvenel. Nami sought to secure their release but was threatened by imprisonment, causing him to replace his cabinet with three pro-French politicians.^[6]

Nami worked relentlessly against the establishment of a separate Lebanon and promoted the historical boundaries to preserve Syrian unity (theregion of Syria). He also sought to have a national army and requested entry into theLeague of Nations. Moreover, he demanded that the French compensate citizens whose homes had been destroyed during theGreat Syrian Revolt of 1925–27, and also asked for a general amnesty to permit the return of Syrian exiles.^[6] However, the authorities in Paris objected to Nami’s ambitions and accused him of establishing a monarchy. Consequently, he was removed from the office on February 8, 1928.^[7]

In 1932, the French reconsidered creating a throne in Syria and appointing Nami as the king, though this plan never came to light. He was then considered a possible candidate for presidential office in 1940. However, theNational Bloc objected to his leadership.^[7]

Nami retired from public life and moved to Lebanon in the 1940s. He occasionally travelled toFrance as a visiting lecturer on history and politics at theSorbonne University.^[7]

He died on 13 December 1962.^[7]

Nami had two sons and a daughter from his marriage with theOttoman princessAyşe Sultan:^[8]

• Sultanzade Omer Nami Bey then Nami-Osmanoğlu (19 November 1911 - 17 March 1993). Born inBebek Palace; died inLausanne. He had two wives and one daughter:
  • Saadet Said Kamil. She was born on 21 September 1907, daughter of Said Kamil Bey and Fehime Fakhri Hanim. She died in Beirut on 13 August 1974. By her he had one daughter:
    • Ayşe Rebia Nami (b. 3 August 1945)
  • Yolande Saad. They got married on 10 November 1975 in Istanbul.
• Aliye Namiye Hanımsultan (7 February 1913 - 9 April 1913). She died in infancy and was buried inmausoleum ofŞehzade Ahmed Kemaleddin, Yayha Efendi cemetery.
• Sultanzade Osman Nami Bey then Nami-Osmanoğlu (13 January 1918 - 15 July 2010). Born inGeneva; died inIstanbul, and was buried in the mausoleum ofMahmud II;.^[9] He married twice and had five daughters:
  • Adile Tanyeri. They married on 18 January 1946 and she died on 8 August 1958 inTunis. By her he had two daughters:
    • Mediha Şükriye Nami-Osmanoğlu (b. 24 May 1947). She has one daughter:
      • Ayşe Marie-Christine Nami-Conopio (b. 16 July 1969)
    • Fethiye Nimet Nami-Osmanoğlu (b. 21 March 1957).
  • Rothraud Granzow. Born 9 April 1934 toHoya Vesser, they married on 18 July 1959. By her he had three daughters:
    • Ayşe Adile Nami-Osmanoğlu (b. 6 August 1958). She has one son and one daughter:
      • Osman Necati Ferhat Ariba (b. 31 January 1980)
      • Ayşe Feyzan Ariba (b. 9 September 1983)
    • Gül Nür Dorothée Nami-Osmanoğlu (b. 10 January 1960). She has one son and two daughters:
      • Hanzade Audrey Nami-Ragot (b. 4 February 1988)
      • Ayzade Maylis Nami-Ragot (b. 16 June 1991)
      • Aléxis Cem Nami-Ragot (b. 11 March 1993)
    • Ayten Sofia Nami-Osmanoğlu (b. 24 March 1961). She has one daughter:
      • Refia Roksan Kunter (b. 8 October 1984)

• Khoury, Philip Shukry (2014).Syria and the French Mandate: The Politics of Arab Nationalism, 1920-1945. Princeton University Press.ISBN 9781400858392.
• Moubayed, Sami M. (2006). "Nami, Ahmad (1879-1960)".Steel & Silk: Men and Women Who Shaped Syria 1900-2000. Cune Press.ISBN 978-1-885942-40-1.

• Syrian people of Turkish descent
• Syrian people of Circassian descent
• Politicians from Beirut
• Turkish Military Academy alumni
• Presidents of Syria
• 1873 births
• 1962 deaths
• 20th-century Syrian politicians
• Damats
• Syrian Freemasons
• Prime ministers of Syria
• 20th-century presidents in Asia

• CS1 Turkish-language sources (tr)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles containing Arabic-language text