Rula Ghani
رولا غنى
Ghani in 2014
First Lady of Afghanistan
In role
29 September 2014 – 15 August 2021
PresidentAshraf Ghani
Preceded byZeenat Karzai
Personal details
Born
Rula F. Saadah

1948 (age 75–76)
Lebanon
CitizenshipLebanon
Afghanistan
United States
Spouse
​
(m. 1975)​
Children2, including Mariam
Alma materSciences Po University, Paris
American University of Beirut
Columbia University
ReligionChristianity
Nickname(s)بی بی گُل
Bibi Gul

Rula F. Saadah Ghani[1][2] (Afghan name: Bibi Gul;[3] born 1948) is a former first lady of Afghanistan and wife of former president of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani.[4]

In 2015, Rula Ghani was named to the Time 100, a list of the world's most influential people, by Time magazine.[5]

Personal life

Michelle Obama hosts a tea with Rula Ghani, 2015.

Rula Ghani was born Rula Saade or Roula Saadé[6] and raised in Lebanon, in a Lebanese Maronite Christian family. She received a diploma from Sciences Po, France, in 1969.[7][8][9] She completed a master's degree in Political Studies from the American University of Beirut in 1974, where she had met her future husband, Ashraf Ghani.[10]

The couple married in 1975 and have two children: a daughter, Mariam Ghani, a Brooklyn-based visual artist,[11] and a son, Tariq. Rula Ghani earned another master's degree in journalism from Columbia University in New York City in 1983. She returned to Afghanistan in 2003.[12]

Ghani holds citizenship in Afghanistan, Lebanon, and the United States.[3][13] She reportedly speaks Arabic, English, French, Pashto and Dari.[14]

Since 2014

At his presidential inauguration in 2014 Ghani publicly thanked his wife, acknowledging her with an Afghan name, Bibi Gul.[10] "I want to thank my partner, Bibi Gul, for supporting me and Afghanistan," said President Ghani, looking emotional. "She has always supported Afghan women and I hope she continues to do so."[15][16] Historian Ali A Olomi argued in 2017 that, following the precedent of Afghanistan's Queen Soraya, Rula Ghani could help bring real change for women's rights in the country.[17]

As First Lady, Ghani was an advocate for women's rights.[18]

On 15 August 2021, Ghani fled from Afghanistan with her husband, children, and two close aides as the Taliban captured Kabul; the Arg, the Afghan presidential palace, was captured a few hours later by the Taliban.[19][20] On 18 August 2021, the government of the United Arab Emirates said that the Ghani family were in their country.[21]

See also

References

  1. ^ "AUB Couples". 150.aub.edu.lb. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  2. ^ Rula, Saadah (26 November 1974). The shaping of British policy in Iraq, 1914-1921 (Thesis). Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  3. ^ a b "Rula Ghani, the woman making waves as Afghanistan's new first lady". The Guardian. 7 November 2014. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  4. ^ "Al Arabiya: Afghan first lady in shadow of 1920s queen?". Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  5. ^ Hosseini, Khaled (16 April 2015). "Time 100 Leaders: Rula Ghani". Time. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  6. ^ "Alumna Rula Ghani, Afghanistan's First lady | Sciences Po Students". www.sciencespo.fr. 23 October 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  7. ^ Rasmussen, Sune Engel (6 November 2014). "Rula Ghani, the woman making waves as Afghanistan's new first lady". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 November 2017 – via www.theguardian.com.
  8. ^ Burger, John (13 January 2016). "Meet Rula Ghani, Afghanistan's Christian First Lady". Aleteia. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  9. ^ "Afghanistan First Lady Rula Ghani Moves into the Limelight". BBC. 15 October 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  10. ^ a b Alexander, Harriet (29 September 2014). "Ashraf Ghani inaugurated: Is Afghanistan ready for a high-profile first lady?". Retrieved 26 November 2017 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  11. ^ Walsh, Declan; Nordland, Rod (14 October 2014). "Jolting Some, Afghan Leader Brings Wife Into the Picture". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  12. ^ O'Donnell, Lynne (27 May 2015). "AP Interview: Afghanistan's first lady breaks taboos but insists she 'doesn't do politics'". U.S. News & World Report. Associated Press. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  13. ^ "Afghanistan's next first lady, a Christian Lebanese-American?". english.alarabiya.net. 5 April 2014. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  14. ^ "A Conversation with Afghanistan First Lady Rula Ghani". www.csis.org. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  15. ^ "WSJ". Wall Street Journal. 29 September 2014. Retrieved 26 November 2017 – via online.wsj.com.
  16. ^ "Foreign Policy: The real first ladies of Afghanistan". Archived from the original on 16 November 2014. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  17. ^ "Afghanistan's New President Thinks His Wife Can Play a Decisive Role in the Country's Future Despite Her Gender. Why He's Right". historynewsnetwork.org. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  18. ^ Magazine, BRIGHT (20 August 2018). "Rula Ghani, A New Kind Of First Lady, Believes Afghanistan Deserves New Stories". Medium.
  19. ^ "President Ashraf Ghani flees Afghanistan as Taliban enters Kabul". South China Morning Post. Reuters. 15 August 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  20. ^ "Afghan government collapses as Ghani flees the country". Seattle Times. New York Times. 15 August 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  21. ^ "Taliban violently disperse rare protest, killing 1 person". Associated Press. 18 August 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
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