Michel 'Aflaq (1910-1989) was the founder and spiritual leader of the Arab Socialist Resurrection party, called the Ba'th party, for more than 25 years. He lived in Syria until 1966, and after being forced into exile, he assumed power within the Ba'th party in Iraq.

Michel 'Aflaq was born in 1910 in the Midan Quarter of Damascus, Syria, to a Greek Orthodox family of five children. His father was a local wheat dealer. 'Aflaq was educated in Greek Orthodox schools in Damascus and won a scholarship to study at the Sorbonne in Paris. He graduated from the Sorbonne with honors in history in 1936 and returned to Damascus to teach at the Tahjiz secondary school. 'Aflaq quit teaching in 1944 to concentrate full time on political activities.

While in France 'Aflaq was close to many Communists and wrote articles for several French Communist publications. In the late 1930s he became disenchanted with the...