Ata Bay al-Ayyubi

Ata Bey al-Ayyubi عطا الأيوبي
President of Syria
In office 25 March 1943 – 17 August 1943
Preceded by	Jamil al-Ulshi
Succeeded by	Shukri al-Kuwatli
Prime Minister of Syria
In office 22 February 1936 – 21 December 1936
Preceded by	Taj al-Din al-Hasani
Succeeded by	Jamil Mardam Bey
Personal details
Born	(1877-03-25)25 March 1877 Damascus, Ottoman Syria
Died	21 December 1951(1951-12-21) (aged 74) Damascus, Syria

Ata Bey al-Ayyubi (25 March 1877 – 21 December 1951; Arabic: عطا الأيوبي‎‎) was an Ottoman civil servant. Born to a prominent political family in Damascus, Syria, he studied public administration in Istanbul, and began his professional career in the Ottoman civil service.

In 1908, he became Governor of Latakia, a city on the Syrian coast. He took no part in the Ottoman-Arab conflict during the years 1916–1918, but returned to live in Damascus when the Ottoman Empire was defeated in October 1918. In the four-day interlude between the departure of the Turks and the arrival of the Arab army, he created a preliminary government with a group of Syrian notables in Damascus, headed by Prince Said al-Jazairi, an Algerian notable who was living in Damascus.

In July 1920, Prime Minister Ala al-Din Droubi appointed him Minister of the interior. This was during the rule of King Feisal I of Syria. Ayyubi held office in the wake of the French occupation of Syria. He established links with local nationalists and smuggled arms and funds to Saleh al-Ali, leader of the revolt in the Syrian coast, and Ibrahim Hananu, leader of the "Aleppo Revolt". In Latakia, he turned a blind eye to the activities of Omar al-Bitar, refusing, in his capacity as Minister of the Interior, to arrest the rebels, and facilitating their ambushes on French garrisons. He was also minister during the famous Battle of Maysalun where the Syrian army was defeated by the French army of General Henri Gouraud. Ayyubi's colleague General Yusuf al-Azmah, the Minister of War, was killed in combat.

...
Wikipedia