1. Ali Farzat or Ali Ferzat is a Syrian political cartoonist.
12 Facts About Ali Farzat
1. 2.
Ali Farzat has published more than 15,000 caricatures in Syrian, Arab and international newspapers.
3.
Ali Farzat serves as the head of the Arab Cartoonists Association.
4.
Ali Farzat was born and raised in the city of Hama, in central Syria on 22 June 1951.
5.
Ali Farzat enrolled at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Damascus University in 1970, and left before dropping out in 1973.
6.
Ali Farzat's caricatures were critical of government corruption but were not directed at particular individuals.
7.
Ali Farzat met Syrian president Bashar al-Assad prior to his presidency in 1996.
8.
Ali Farzat has been called "one of the most famous cultural figures in the Arab world".
9.
In December 2012, Ali Farzat was awarded Gebran Tueni prize in Lebanon.
10.
On 25 August 2011, Ali Farzat was reportedly pulled from his vehicle in Umayyad Square in central Damascus by masked gunmen believed to be part of the security forces and a pro-government militia.
11.
Ali Farzat's drawings are centred around themes involving criticism of bureaucracy, corruption and hypocrisy within the government and the wealthy elite.
12.
However, since the uprising in Syria began Ali Farzat has been more direct in his caricatures, depicting actual figures including the President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad.