Beside famous men

A love story that spanned across time, Mahassen Mattar describes her life with advertising, design, and painting legend Abdulkader Arnaout, and how their love boosted both her music career and his various activities, without ever getting in the way or weighing down the other.

During the middle of World War II, Sir Winston Churchill was asked to name the secrets of his success. Among other things, he advised saying, “Find a sweetheart.” Strong women with passion bring out the goodness in men. They did that to Churchill, and they did that to hundreds of personalities across the world, who excelled in politics, science, and the arts. Syria is no exception. Mamdouh Kachlan is a celebrated artist from Syria, whose works, lively and colorful, speak volumes about the passion he has for what he is doing. Talented, charming, and tough, he is an artist who has left his hallmark on the Syrian art scene. His art would have been difficult—certainly different—had it not been for his sweetheart, the late Asma al-Takreeti. She has been his sweetheart since the day he first met her in 1958 and although she passed away nearly 50 years later in 2006, continues to be, his eternal sweetheart, in 2008.

Although the engagement between former President Husni al-Za’im and his wife was traditional, the way in which her father accepted the suitor certainly was not. Husni al-Za’im’s wife Nouran, who was the first lady of Syria from April to August 1949, had a sister named Omran, who was married to a distinguished journalist named Nazir Fansa. Omran was traveling to Aleppo with her mother-in-law when they met Husni al-Za’im’s sister on the train. She walked up to Omran and asked if she were single, saying that she was searching for a bride for her brother, who was an officer in the Syrian Army, currently serving as director of Military Police in Deir ez-Zour (on the Euphrates). Omran’s mother-in-law replied, “No, she is taken, but she’s got three other beautiful sisters; all of whom are single.”

In November 1977, just as rumors emerged about Egyptian President Anwar Sadat visiting Jerusalem, the Syrian ambassador to the UN in New York, Mowaffak Allaf, urgently cabled Damascus for instructions about the official reaction he should convey.  As luck would have it, he was scheduled to be the first speaker at the General Assembly the following Monday morning.
For two days, there was no response from Damascus, and no declared position from Syrian media. At 10pm on the eve of his intervention, he looked gravely at his wife and said, “Houda, what I do tomorrow might cost me my job. Are you ready to bear the consequences with me?” She asked him what he meant, and he explained, “I can only follow my convictions and my conscience, and I must strongly condemn the Jerusalem visit. Since I still have no response and with only 12 hours left, I must start preparing my speech.” “Do it. I am with you,” she replied.

She was a young student at the Faculty of Arabic Literature at Latakia University.
He was an established poet and playwright living in Damascus.
Enchanted with the theater, Ilham Abdul-Latif participated in several theater festivals in Damascus.
At one point, the amateur cast was facing major problems in set and decoration, and Ilham had a loud argument with one of the theater administrators.
Mamduh Udwan, a rising name in Syria, showed up at the gates of the Qabbani Theater, and asked them what was happening.
Upset, and recognizing a potential supporter, Ilham replied, “Mr.
Mamduh; they are fighting us because we come from a small city called Latakia!” “Take it easy,” he said smiling.