Born 1909, in Hamah; died Sept. 27, 1964, in Ceres, Brazil. Syrian state figure.
A career army officer, Shishakli carried out a military coup in December 1949 and became chief of the General Staff of the Syrian Army. Between Nov. 29 and Dec. 2, 1951, he staged a coup d’etat. While president of Syria in 1953 and 1954, Shishakli established a military dictatorship. Overthrown in February 1954, he fled from Syria. He settled in Brazil in 1958. Shishakli was killed by a Druze named Ghazali, who was taking revenge for violence committed against his clan in 1954.