Rula Ghani

Rula Ghani
رولا غنى
Ghani in 2014
First Lady of Afghanistan
In role 29 September 2014 – 15 August 2021
President	Ashraf Ghani
Preceded by	Zeenat Karzai
Personal details
Born	Rula F. Saadah 1948 (age 76–77) Lebanon
Citizenship	Lebanon Afghanistan United States
Spouse	Ashraf Ghani ​ (m. 1975)​
Children	2, including Mariam
Alma mater	Sciences Po University, Paris American University of Beirut Columbia University
Religion	Christianity
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

• Hamid Karzai
• Hashmat Ghani Ahmadzai
• Queens of Afghanistan

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. "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. 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.