Syria / Iran — Understanding the Issues
Travel Writer · Suwayda — Paris
Adnan Azzam

Forty years on the road between the East and the West, told from a horse’s-eye view — from *The Rider of Hope* to the *Damascus–Moscow Notebooks*.

AA
Adnan Azzam
Franco-Syrian writer, translator, and lecturer
BORN IN 1957 · SUWEIDA, SYRIA KNIGHT OF THE NATIONAL ORDER OF MERIT SYRIAN UNION OF ARAB WRITERS
Introduction

Born in 1957 in the Suwayda region of southern Syria, Adnan Azzam grew up in the rural village of Al-Doweira before continuing his studies in Suwayda and then in Damascus, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in law in 1981. Armed with this degree and a childhood dream, he left his native country at the age of 24 to embark on a four-year journey around the world on horseback that would take him through a dozen countries, from Europe to the United States via the Arab world.

Settling in France in 1986, he founded a cultural center and restaurant in Paris called “La Reine Zénobie,” which for twenty-five years served as a venue for meetings, lectures, and cultural exchange between the East and the West. He also taught Arabic language and civilization at the École Supérieure de Journalisme de Paris. Having returned to live in Syria, he continues his work in writing, translation, and cultural exchange, while remaining actively involved in the life of his home region.

As an author, translator, and lecturer, Adnan Azzam devotes a large part of his work to the dialogue between Eastern and Western civilizations.

An author, translator, and lecturer, Adnan Azzam devotes a large part of his work to the dialogue between Eastern and Western civilizations—a theme that runs through both his travel narratives and his translations of French authors writing about contemporary Syria.

Career
1977–1981
Studied law in Damascus

After earning his high school diplomas in literature and agriculture in Syria in 1976.

1982–1986
Round-the-world trip on horseback

Four years of traveling on horseback through Syria, Turkey, Greece, Italy, France, Spain, the United States, and several countries in the Arab world, with the aim of fostering encounters and reconciliation among peoples.

1986–2011
“La Reine Zénobie,” Paris 18th arrondissement

Founded an Oriental cultural center (restaurant, lectures, debates) and taught Arabic at the École Supérieure de Journalisme de Paris. Awarded the title of Knight of the National Order of Merit.

2011–2022
Return to Syria, writing and translation

Wrote and translated about ten books in Arabic, including a compilation of French perspectives on the war in Syria; produced a documentary for Al Jazeera Documentary.

2019–2020
Damascus–Moscow on horseback

A new 300-day equestrian journey connecting Syria to Russia.

2021
Elected to the executive board of the Suwayda region

Involvement in the institutional life of his home region.

2024
“My Adventures on Horseback”

Publication of a comprehensive book bringing together and expanding upon his two previous travel accounts.

Selected Bibliography
The Rider of Hope — My Journey Around the World on Horseback, Stock, 1989
On Horseback Between East and West, Éditions du Rocher, 2003 (reprint)
From Orientalism to Occidentalism (2 volumes), Arabic edition
The War in Syria as Seen by French Authors — Translation: Anthology Translated into Arabic
My Adventures on Horseback 2024

Non-exhaustive list — approximately ten works and translations were published between 2011 and 2022, primarily in Arabic. A complete bibliography is available on the author’s official website.

Online Presence
Official website → adnanazzam.fr Instagram → @adnanazzam YouTube → Adnan Azzam
Profile compiled from publicly available information (the author’s official website and publishers’ catalogs), June 2026. The “AA” medallion in the header is a decorative element; the photograph at the top of the banner is the image provided for publication.

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