Faysal I

Faysal I

(born May 20, 1885, Mecca, Hejaz, Arabian Peninsula—died Sept. 8, 1933, Bern, Switz.) Arab statesman and king of Iraq (1921–33). Son of Sharif Husayn ibn 'Ali, he helped his father plot Arab nationalist rebellion against the Ottoman Empire during World War I (1914–18). When the Arab revolt was declared in 1916, he played an important part in anti-Ottoman military campaigns. In 1918 an Arab military force occupied Damascus, and Faysal was declared king of Syria. Two years later France invaded Syria, and he went into exile in London. The British sponsored him as king of Iraq, in anticipation of a treaty providing for Iraqi independence; he was crowned in 1921, and Iraq became independent in 1932.