Asma al-Assad

On 8 August 2018, it was announced that she had begun treatment for early stage breast cancer. On 4 August 2019, Assad publicly stated that she has fully recovered and is officially cancer free.

As of November 2016, her public Instagram page continues to be updated with photos of her engaged in community service activities.

She had not been seen in public regularly since the July 2012 bombing of the Syrian Military Intelligence Directorate, leading to press speculation that she had fled the capital or the country. She made a public appearance at the Damascus Opera House for an event called "Mother's Rally" on 18 March 2013, refuting the rumours. She made another public appearance in October 2013 and again refuted rumours of her departure, stating: "I was here yesterday, I'm here today and I will be here tomorrow."

A serious blow has been dealt to her public image since the Syrian Civil War intensified in early 2012, as the First Lady was criticised for remaining silent throughout the beginning of the Syrian uprising. She issued her first official statement to the international media since the insurrection began in February 2012, nearly a year after the first serious protests. Also in February 2012, she sent an email to The Times stating: "The President is the President of Syria, not a faction of Syrians, and the First Lady supports him in that role." The communiqué also described her continued support for charities and rural development activities and related that she comforts the "victims of the violence".

On 23 March 2012, the European Union froze her assets and placed a travel ban on her and President Bashar al-Assad's other close family members as part of escalating sanctions against the Syrian government. Assad herself remains able to travel to the UK because of her British citizenship but is banned from entering the rest of the EU.

On 16 April 2012, Huberta von Voss Wittig and Sheila Lyall Grant, the wives of the German and British ambassadors to the United Nations, released a four-minute video asking Assad to stand up for peace and urge her husband to end the bloodshed in her country.

In February 2011, Vogue published "A Rose in the Desert," a flattering profile of Assad by veteran fashion writer Joan Juliet Buck. The article was later removed from Vogue's website without editorial comment that spring. Responding to media inquiries about the disappearance of Assad's profile, Vogue's editor stated that "as the terrible events of the past year and a half unfolded in Syria, it became clear that [Syria’s] priorities and values were completely at odds with those of Vogue". Buck has since written another article for The Daily Beast giving an extremely critical account of Assad.

Asma and Bashar al-Assad have three children. Their first child, a son named Hafez after Hafez al-Assad, was born in 2001, and followed by their daughter Zein in 2003, and their second son Karim in 2004.

She was about to pursue a MBA at Harvard University when, on holiday at her aunt's in Damascus in 2000, she was reacquainted with Bashar al-Assad, a family friend.

After Hafez al-Assad's death in June 2000, Bashar took over the presidency. Asma moved to Syria in November 2000 and married Bashar in December of that year. The marriage surprised many since there had been no media reports of their dating and courtship prior to the wedding. Many interpreted the union as a reconciliation and sign of progression towards a reformative government as Asma grew up in the United Kingdom and represents the Sunni majority, unlike the Alawite Bashar.

After graduating from King's College London, she started work as an economics analyst at Deutsche Bank Group in the hedge fund management division with clients in Europe and East Asia. In 1998, she joined the investment banking division of J.P. Morgan where she worked on a team that specialised in biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. She credits her banking experience with giving her "analytical thinking" and an ability to "[understand] the business side of running a company".

Assad graduated from King's College London in 1996 with a bachelor's degree in computer science and French literature. She had a career in investment banking and was set to begin an MBA at Harvard University when she married Bashar al-Assad in December 2000. She resigned from her investment banking job following the wedding and remained in Syria, where their three children were born. As First Lady she played a major role in implementing governmental organisations involved with social and economic development throughout the country as part of a reform initiative which was halted due to the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War.

She grew up in Acton, London, where she went to Twyford Church of England High School and later a private girls' school, Queen's College, London. She graduated from King's College London in 1996 with a first-class honours Bachelor of Science degree in computer science and a diploma in French literature. She speaks English, Arabic, French, and Spanish.

Asma al-Assad (Arabic: أسماء الأسد ‎, Levantine pronunciation: [asˈmaː elˈasad] ; née  Akhras, Arabic: أسماء فواز الأخرس ‎: [ˈasma fawˈwaːz elˈʔaxras] ; born 11 August 1975) is the First Lady of Syria. Born and raised in London to Syrian parents, she is married to the 19th and current President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad.

Assad was born Asma Akhras on 11 August 1975 in London to Fawaz Akhras, a cardiologist at the Cromwell Hospital, and his wife Sahar Akhras (née Otri), a retired diplomat who served as First Secretary at the Syrian Embassy in London. Her parents are Sunni Muslims and of Syrian origin, from the city of Homs.