15 Facts About Rida Said

Rida Said al-Aytouni, was a Syrian eye surgeon and ophthalmologist and the leading educational reformer of Syria in the early 20th century.

Rida Said continued his medical practice as an ophthalmologist all his life.

Rida Said continued his education at the Military Medical School in Istanbul where after graduating in 1902 and was appointed assistant to the Professor of Ophthalmology.

Rida Said was then promoted to Head of Medical Ward in 1908 with the rank of Agassi, or "Major" in the army of the Ottoman Empire.

Rida Said returned to Damascus in 1913, and started practicing as an ophthalmologist, which at that time was called a kahhal.

Rida Said launched new medical departments at the institute, including a department for the study of nursing and midwifery; with further departments established soon after for pharmacy and dentistry, thus creating the building blocks of an Academic School in Damascus.

Rida Said succeeded in establishing the Syrian University in 1923 and became its first President.

Rida Said worked on the qualification of its scientific and administrative staff and opened the way to the establishment of the Institute of Law, becoming the first academic law school department in the Arab world.

Rida Said chaired this committee, which included Abd al-Rahman Shahbandar, a graduate of the American University of Beirut, Dr Ahmad Munif al-Aidi, a graduate of the Ottoman Medical Institute in Istanbul, Dr Murshid Khatir, a graduate of Saint Joseph University in Beirut, Dr Abd al-Qadir Zahra, one of Sharif Hussein's physicians, and Dr Mahmoud Hammouda, one of the prominent Damascene doctors in the Hijaz.

Rida Said was appointed Dean of the Institute of Arab Medicine and assigned the Palestinian jurist Abd al-Latif Salah to the Deanship of the Institute of Law, which opened its doors to Syrian students in September 1919, that is, a year after the Ottoman forces had evacuated from Damascus.

In 1924, Rida Said took over the Ministry of Education in the first Syrian government, formed under the French mandate by President Subhi Bey Barakat but he resigned after the beginning of the Great Syrian Revolt.

In 1925, Rida Said returned to his position as President of the University, and continued his efforts to gain recognition of the Syrian secondary certificate as well as the French baccalaureate as a condition of entry to the university.

In 1936, Rida Said requested from the first president of the Mandatory Syrian Republic, Muhammad Ali Bey al-Abid, to approve his retirement from the presidency of the university.

Rida Said died on 28 October 1945 in Damascus and was buried there.

Rida Said's son is the international businessman and philanthropist Wafic Said.