Rula Ghani
| Rula Ghani رولا غنى |
|
|---|---|
| 225px | |
| First Lady of Afghanistan | |
| Assumed office 29 September 2014 |
|
| President | Ashraf Ghani |
| Preceded by | Zeenat Karzai |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Rula F. Saadah 1948 (age 75–76) Lebanon |
| Nationality | Lebanese Afghan American |
| Spouse(s) | Ashraf Ghani (m. 1975) |
| Alma mater | Sciences Po university, Paris American University of Beirut Columbia University |
Rula F. Saadah Ghani[3][4] [Pashto-ژړا ژړا] (born 1948; Afghan name: Bibi Gul[5]) is the current First Lady of Afghanistan, the wife of the incumbent President of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani.[6]
In 2015, Rula Ghani was named to the Time 100, a list of the world's most influential people, by Time magazine.[7]
Personal life
Rula Ghani was born Rula Saade and raised in Lebanon to a Lebanese Christian family. She received a diploma from Sciences Po, France, in 1969.[8] 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.[9]
The couple married in 1975 and have two children: a daughter, Mariam Ghani, a Brooklyn-based visual artist,[10] 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.[11]
Ghani holds citizenship in Afghanistan, Lebanon, and the United States.[5][12] She reportedly speaks Arabic, English, French, Pashto and Dari.[13]
Since 2014
At his presidential inauguration in 2014 Ghani publicly thanked his wife, acknowledging her with an Afghan name, Bibi Gul.[9] "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."[14][15] Historian, Ali A Olomi, has argued that following the precedent of Afghanistan's Queen Soraya, Rula Ghani can bring real change for women's rights in the country.[16]
As First Lady, Ghani has been an advocate for women's rights.[17]
See also
- Zeenat Karzai
- Hamid Karzai
- Ashraf Ghani
- Hashmat Ghani Ahmadzai
- First Lady of Afghanistan
- Queens of Afghanistan
References
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