User:Cimm/SAK
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| Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 17, 1933 Paris, France |
| Died | May 12, 2003 Boston, USA |
| Spouse | Princess Catherine Aga Khan |
| Parents | Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan and Princess Andrée Aga Khan (née Carron) |
Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan son of the late Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan and the late Princess Andrée Aga Khan was born in Paris, France on January 17, 1933. The younger of Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah’s two sons, Prince Sadruddin was the uncle of His Highness the Aga Khan, 49th hereditary Imam (spiritual leader) of the Ismaili Muslims. The Aga Khan traces his lineage back to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and Prince Sadruddin’s grandmother was the granddaughter of the Qajar Emperor Fath’Ali Shah. He died of cancer in Boston, USA on May 12, 2003, at the age of 70.
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[edit] Childhood and Education
Born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, he was the only child of His Highness Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan III and his second wife Princess Andrée Aga Khan (née Andrée Joséphine Carron). He had an elder half-brother, Prince Aly Khan.
Prince Sadruddin received his early education in Lausanne, Switzerland before graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 1954 from Harvard University. After three years of post-graduate research at Harvard’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Prince Sadruddin followed a family tradition in international service established by his father who had served two terms as President of the League of Nations.
[edit] Career
- Paris Review
Prince Saddrudin was the founding editor of the Paris Review[1] which was established in 1953 with the aim of bringing original creative work to the fore. Every year the Review awards the Aga Khan Prize for Fiction for the best short story that it published in the past year.
- UNESCO
In 1958, Prince Sadruddin joined UNESCO, becoming in 1961, Executive Secretary to its International Action Committee for the Preservation of Nubia, which brought together archaeologists from Eastern Europe and the West at the height of the Cold War to save the ancient treasures of Abu Simbel, the temples of Philae and Kalabsha and the Christian churches of Nubia.
- UN High Commissioner for Refugees
In January, 1966 Prince Sadruddin was appointed United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees after serving for three years as Deputy High Commissioner. At the age of 33 he became the youngest person ever to lead the UNHCR. For the next twelve years, he directed the UN refugee agency during one of its most difficult periods, coordinating the international response to crises in, amongst other countries, Bangladesh, Uganda, Sudan, Chile and Cyprus. Widening the UNHCR mandate well beyond its original focus on Eastern Europe, Prince Sadruddin, during his tenure extended the organisation’s reach to refugees from Palestine, Vietnam, Angola and Algeria.
- United Nations Diplomatic Career
Prince Sadruddin had, since 1978, been variously: Special Consultant and Chargé de Mission to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Special Rapporteur of the UN Human Rights Commission and Convenor and Co-Chairman of the Independent Commission on International Humanitarian Issues and of the Independent Working Group on the UN Financial Emergency. He was, later, Coordinator for United Nations Humanitarian and Economic Assistance Programmes Relating to the People of Afghanistan, Personal Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Humanitarian Assistance Relating to the Crisis between Iraq and Kuwait and Executive Delegate of the Secretary-General for a United Nations Inter-Agency Humanitarian Programme which dealt with problems of Iraq’s border areas.
He was nominated and passed over twice for the post of UN Secretary-General. Although he won the 1981 vote, the Soviet Union considered him too Western and vetoed his election. When he was nominated again in 1991, the United States and Britain disagreed with his belief in a policy of boosting aid to Iraq.
- Environmental Protection and Advocacy
In 1977, Prince Sadruddin, together with Denis de Rougemont and a few other friends, established in Geneva, a think-tank, Groupe de Bellerive (named after his Geneva property), and a non-profit organisation, the Bellerive Foundation, a leading grassroots action group promoting environmental protection, natural resource conservation and the safeguarding of life in all its forms.
A long-standing trustee and former Vice-President of the World Wide Fund for Nature International (WWF), Prince Sadruddin led Bellerive’s support for threatened species. Bellerive was also amongst the first organisations to warn of the potential human health hazards of modern intensive farming methods.
[edit] Art Collection
Prince Sadruddin was a knowledgable and respected collector of art since his youth. His collection of Islamic art is well known and includes miniatures and other pieces that were exhibited in London, Boston and Zurich. It will be housed at a new museum being established by the Aga Khan in Toronto. He had also assembled a collection of primitive and African art which he later sold. Prince Sadruddin was also a familiar figure at music festivals and other cultural events, both in Europe and overseas. He was a keen skier and an accomplished sailor throughout his life.
[edit] Family and Marriages
Born to Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan and the Princess Andrée Aga Khan, Prince Saddrudin had an older half-brother, the late Prince Aly Khan whose children are his nephews Prince Karim Aga Khan, Prince Amyn Aga Khan, and his niece Princess Yasmin Aga Khan Embiricos. He also has a cousin Mme. Francoise Carron.
On August 27, 1957, in Bellerive, Switzerland, he married Nina Dyer (1930-1965). A fashion model, she was the former wife of Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza. She converted to Islam, taking the name Shirin ("sweetness").[2] They had no children and divorced in 1962.
In November, 1972, in the British West Indies, he married Catherine Aleya Sursock (née Beriketti, born 1938), the former wife of Cyril Sursock. They had no children, but by this marriage, Prince Sadruddin had three stepchildren: Alexandre, Marc, and Nicholas Sursock.[3]
[edit] Awards and Decorations
A recipient of several honorary doctorates and national decorations from states as diverse as Egypt, Pakistan, Poland and the Vatican, as well as the United Nations Human Rights Award, Prince Sadruddin was a Bourgeois d’Honneur de Geneve, Commandeur de la Legion d’Honneur (France) and most recently, named Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his services to humanitarian causes and the arts.
[edit] References
- ^ New York Times Review of The Paris Review Anthology - New York Times, March 4, 1990. Retrieved on 2006-12-13.
- ^ "Aly Khan's Brother Weds Model", The New York Times, 28 August 1957, p. 9.
- ^ "Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, U.N. Commissioner, and Mrs. Sursock Married", The New York Times, 28 November 1972, p. 56.
[edit] Sources
- Press Release: Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan - Secrétariat de Son Altesse l'Aga Khan, May 13, 2003. Retrieved on 2006-12-13.
- Former UN refugee agency chief Sadruddin Aga Khan dies - UN News Centre, May 13, 2003. Retrieved on 2006-12-13.
- Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan (Obituary), The Times (UK), May 16, 2003. Retrieved on 2006-12-13.
