Mona Wassef

Born: February 9, 1942 — Damascus, First Syrian Republic [now Syria]

Mona Wassef is a Syrian film and theatre actress who was born in Damascus in 1942. She is considered an icon in Arab cinema and a role model for many artists and has earned numerous nicknames including, “The First Star of Syria,” “Star of the Arab World,” and “Lady of the Syrian Screen.” Wassef's most famous early role was as Hind in the 1976 film “Al Ressala” (The Message) about the life of the prophet Mohammed. She has played the role of Bassam Kousa’s mother more than ten times in cinema and on television. In 2009, Wassef became the first Syrian woman to receive the Syrian Order of Merit-Ex...