{"id":139441,"date":"2026-07-23T13:20:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T13:20:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/?p=139441"},"modified":"2026-07-23T13:20:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T13:20:20","slug":"eight-years-on-syrians-remember-actress-may-skaf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/139441\/","title":{"rendered":"Eight years on, Syrians remember actress May Skaf"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) <\/strong>\u2013 Thursday marks the eighth anniversary of the death of Syrian actress May Skaf, who died in the French capital, Paris, in 2018 at the age of 49 after suffering a severe brain hemorrhage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Skaf became widely known not only for her artistic career but also for her opposition to the former Syrian government after the outbreak of the Syrian conflict in 2011. She took part in demonstrations following the events that began in Daraa governorate and was arrested several times<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following her final detention in 2013, Skaf left Syria for Jordan before settling in France, where she remained until her death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Born in Damascus\u2019 al-Muhajireen neighborhood on April 13, 1969, Skaf once described her childhood home as \u201cpoor but rich in love, culture, creativity and patriotism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She studied French literature at the University of Damascus and launched her acting career in cinema with the 1991 film Saheel al-Jihat. Her final film appearance was Sarab in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Throughout her career, Skaf also appeared in several acclaimed television dramas and stage productions, including Al-Ababid and Omar, becoming one of Syria\u2019s well-known actresses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2004, she founded the Teatro Institute for Performing Arts, offering an alternative to the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts\u2019 dominance of theatrical education in Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to media reports, the institute was later closed by the Syrian government\u2019s security services after the outbreak of the Syrian conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In one interview, Skaf recalled that when an officer asked her during her detention in Damascus what she wanted, she replied: \u201cI don\u2019t want my son to be ruled by Bashar al-Assad\u2019s son.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two days before her death, Skaf wrote on her Facebook account: \u201cI will not lose hope, I will not lose hope. This is the great Syria, not Assad\u2019s Syria.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">By Atoun Jan<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) \u2013 Thursday marks the eighth anniversary of the death of Syrian actress May Skaf, who died in the French capital, Paris, in 2018 at the age of 49 after suffering a severe brain hemorrhage. Skaf became widely known not only for her artistic career but also for her opposition to the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":139442,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pgc_sgb_lightbox_settings":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,39,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-139441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-home","category-syria"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Eight years on, Syrians remember actress May Skaf<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) \u2013 Thursday marks the eighth anniversary of the death of Syrian actress May Skaf, who died in the French capital, Paris, in\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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