Rama Duwaji
American artist, First Lady of New York City (born 1997)
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Key Takeaways
- Rama Sawaf Duwaji (born June 30, 1997) is an American animator, illustrator, and ceramist.
- Duwaji is the current first lady of New York City, following the inauguration of her husband, Zohran Mamdani, as mayor of New York City in 2026.
- Her father, Marwan Duwaji, is a software developer, and her mother, Bariah Dardari, is a pediatrician who also worked on humanitarian missions in warzones with the Syrian American Medical Society; the couple had married shortly before her birth.
- Duwaji has described drawing as her solace, and she would often get in trouble for doodling in her textbooks and notebooks at school.
- After graduating from high school, Duwaji studied communication arts at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts.
Rama Sawaf Duwaji (born June 30, 1997) is an American animator, illustrator, and ceramist. Throughout her career, her illustrations have been featured in The New Yorker and The Washington Post, as well as at Vice, the BBC, Apple, and Tate Modern.
Duwaji is the current first lady of New York City, following the inauguration of her husband, Zohran Mamdani, as mayor of New York City in 2026.
Early life and education
Rama Sawaf Duwaji was born on June 30, 1997 in Houston, Texas, to Syrian Muslim parents from Damascus. Her father, Marwan Duwaji, is a software developer, and her mother, Bariah Dardari, is a pediatrician who also worked on humanitarian missions in warzones with the Syrian American Medical Society; the couple had married shortly before her birth. In 2006, following Dardari's appointment at the local American Hospital, the family left their home in Wayne, New Jersey, and moved to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Duwaji spent the remainder of her childhood in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf.
Duwaji has described drawing as her solace, and she would often get in trouble for doodling in her textbooks and notebooks at school. Her parents were supportive of her love of art, but encouraged her to be practical with her career choices. After graduating from high school, Duwaji studied communication arts at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts. She first attended classes at the school's satellite campus in Doha, Qatar, during her freshman year, then transferred to its main campus in Richmond, Virginia, where she obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts cum laude in 2019.
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