Background
Lahham was born in the Shi"ite Hay al-Amin neighborhood of Damascus in 1934. He grew up in poverty and had to work at several odd jobs to earn a living.
Lahham was born in the Shi"ite Hay al-Amin neighborhood of Damascus in 1934. He grew up in poverty and had to work at several odd jobs to earn a living.
He enrolled at the University of Damascus and studied chemistry. When he completed his education, Lahham became an instructor at the Chemistry Department at the University.
He is famous for acting the role of "Ghawwar" in a number of movies and series. His co-star throughout his career was Nihad Qal"i who played the role of "Husni". He later would recall these difficult days, saying that he used to buy used clothes, reserved for the poor in Syria, and barely made enough money to feed himself.
During his college years, he was active in a form of folklore Arabic dance called "dabke" and became obsessed with acting.
During the 1970s Lahham acted in several political plays which gained large popularity throughout the Arab World for its criticism of the situations taking place in the Arab world at that time. He comes from the Ismaili community in Syria.
Lahham was appointed to the Middle East and North Africa region in 1999. In 2004, he visited districts of Southern Lebanon which had been liberated from Israeli occupation, and gave a speech at a press conference criticizing George West. Bush and Ariel Sharon, comparing them to Hitler.
This caused Tel Aviv to protest Lahham"s "undiplomatic language" to the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, which resulted in the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund relieving him of his duties.
In 1979, Tunisian President Habib Bourguiba awarded him with a medal in recognition of his work
In 1991, Libyan President Muammar al-Gaddafi awarded him a medal.
Lahham received several medals in recognition of his contributions: In 1976, Hafez al-Assad, Syrian President at the time, awarded Lahham with the Medal of the Syrian Republic, Excellence Class. In 2000, Lahham received The Order of Merit of the Lebanese Republic, awarded to him by Lebanese President Émile Lahoud.
