Al-Mustansiriya University
| Al-Mustansiriya University | |
|---|---|
| الجامعة المستنصرية | |
 | |
| Established | 1963 |
| Type | Public University |
| President | Dr. Rahim Al Saedy |
| Location | Baghdad, Iraq |
| Campus | Urban |
| Website | www.uomustansiriyah.edu.iq |
Al-Mustansiriya University (Arabic: الجامعة المستنصرية) is a university in Baghdad, Iraq.
The original Mustansiriya Madrasah, was established in 1227 (or 1232/34 A.D. by some accounts) by the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mustansir and was one of the oldest universities in the world. Its building, on the left bank of the Tigris River, survived the Mongol invasion of 1258 and has been restored.
The modern Al-Mustansiriyah University was established with the help and financial support of the Republic of Ίrāq Teacher’s Union in 1963, mainly providing evening courses. In 1964, the University was given the status of a semi-state institution and some state financial support. At the same time it absorbed Al-Sha’ab University, another private university that had been founded by the Ίrāqi Association of Economists, and then moved to a new campus to the north of the city centre. Initially, the University also managed colleges in Mosul and Basra.
In 1966 a law was passed under which the private universities were converted into public universities. Al-Mustansiriyah thus became, briefly, a College within the University of Baghdad. In 1967 a major reorganisation of higher education was initiated, with the intention that by 1969 all previous institutions would be abolished and reconstituted. Al-Mustansiriyah was designated as a separate University in 1968, and its branch campuses were detached to form part of the University of Mosul and the University of Basra.
Colleges
- College of Medicine: Based outside the main campus, attached to Al-Yarmouk Teaching Hospital. It is one of four medical schools in Baghdad and the second established (after the University of Baghdad medical college).
- College of Dentistry: The second in Baghdad (after the University of Baghdad dentistry college).Based outside the main campus, attached to Al-Karama Teaching Hospital.
- College of Law
- College of Management and Economy
- College of Arts
- College of Education
- College of Science
- College of Physical Education
- College of Engineering
- College of Pharmacy
- College of Political Science
- College of Basic Education
2007 bombings
The Mustansiriya University bombing in 16 January, 2007 was a series of attacks on students and teachers at the largely Shiite Mustansiriya University on January 16, 2007. Some 70 people were killed and 169 were wounded.[1]
In early December 2006, the insurgent group Ansar al-Sunna distributed statements at mosques in western Baghdad and on websites calling on students and professors to cancel classes in preparation for a purge of Shiite militias from campuses. A December 3, 2006 statement named Al-Mustansiriya University as one of the schools that should be closed.
In 2009, the university was closed for a week after a student militia that controlled the university for years had beaten a professor.[2]
Notable alumni
- Kasim Muhammad Taqi al-Sahlani, a member of the Council of Representatives of Iraq
- Rahim AlHaj, an oud player and composer
- Nadhmi Auchi, a businessman and billionaire,
- Alia Mamdouh, a novelist, author and journalist
- Betool Khedairi, novelist/author
References
External links
- Official website (Arabic)
Coordinates: 33°20′19″N 44°23′23″E / 33.33861°N 44.38972°E