[New York, Reuters=Yonhap News] Zoran Mamdani’s (34) election as the Mayor of New York has brought attention to his wife, Rama Duwaji (28), an illustrator and animator.
Starting January 1 next year, Mamdani and Duwaji will become the youngest-ever Mayor of New York and the youngest-ever spouse of a New York Mayor, respectively, as they take up residence in the New York Mayor’s official residence, Gracie Mansion.
Major U.S. media outlets reported on the 5th local time that Duwaji avoided media exposure and political comments during the campaign period.
During the campaign, Duwaji participated in art and fashion events and worked as a ceramic painting workshop instructor across New York.
Her illustrations appeared in a Vogue article about garment factory workers in New York City and a New York Magazine article about items taken by residents on their exodus from Gaza.
Duwaji, born in Houston, Texas, is from a Syrian Muslim family. She moved to Dubai with her family around the age of 9 and spent her childhood in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf.
She obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York, respectively, and is currently working on projects across the Middle East, Europe, and the U.S.
Many of Duwaji’s works depict life in the Middle East and discuss social justice, and like her husband, she also criticizes the Gaza conflict by Israel.
Her Instagram followers significantly increased during Mamdani’s campaign, surpassing 540,000.
Photographer Hasnain Bhatti (32), a friend of Duwaji, described her as “our modern-day Princess Diana.”
Mamdani and Duwaji first met through the dating app “Hinge” in 2021 and got married at New York City Hall last February.
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