The Biography of Dr. Mamoun Kuzbari

He was born in 1914 in Damascus in the Shagour neighbourhood. He spent all his school years in his hometown, and obtained the French Baccalaureate. He then left Damscus for Beirut, where he entered the St. Joseph University, and graduated in 1939 with a law degree.
In 1942, he left for the University of Lyon, France where he obtained a Phd. in Law. He returned to Damascus in 1943,and opened a law firm. One of the first cases he took care of was to lift off the mortgage on his mother's land. He became a law professor at the University of Damascus in 1948.

In 1952, he was elected to the Syrian Parliament, as Deputy of Damascus, and elected Speaker by the other deputies. One year later, a military coup was held and the Parliament was dissolved. In 1954, new elections were held and he was once again elected as deputy. He also occupied diverse ministerial positions in different governments over a four-year span, including: Minister of Justice, Minister of Education and the Minister of Labor and Social affairs. He was a member of the government in 1958, that signed the union with Egypt, which gave birth to the U.A.R.

Between 1959 and 1961, he came back to the juridicial world by becoming president of the Bar. But politics called him back after the miltary coup which broke the union with Egypt. He was called upon to form a government. The members of the government, which he headed, was mainly formed of technocrats and university professors. He also was at the same time, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Defense. He took the position of Head of State. He called for new election two months after the formation of this government so that the democratic rule could be reestablished and the government would be legitimitated by the people. In that election he was once again elected as Deputy, and also as Speaker.

In March 1962, a military coup occured that brought the Ba'ath party to power. He went into exile a year later in Morocco. He never came back to politics. He was encharged to Arabicise the faculty of Law at the University Mohammad V. Over the 25 years during which he was a professor at the university, he wrote books and traveled often, spending much of his time in Paris. He reitred in 1989.

He died on March 2nd 1998 in Beirut, and buried in Damscus.

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