Prince Hassan bin Talal

Hassan
Prince El Hassan of Jordan
Prince El Hassan bin Talal in Berlin 2006
Born	(1947-03-20) 20 March 1947 Amman, Jordan
Spouse	Princess Sarvath al-Hassan
Issue	Princess Rahma Princess Sumaya Princess Badiya Prince Rashid
House	Hashemite
Father	Talal of Jordan
Mother	Zein al Sharaf Talal
Religion	Islam

Jordanian Royal Family
HM The King HM The Queen HRH The Crown Prince HRH Princess Iman HRH Princess Salma HRH Prince Hashem HM Queen Noor Extended royal family HRH Prince Hamzah HRH Princess Basmah HRH Princess Haya HRH Princess Zein HRH Princess Noor HRH Prince Hashim HRH Princess Fahdah HRH Princess Haalah HRH Princess Rayet HRH Princess Fatima HRH Prince Hussein Haidara HRH Princess Iman HRH Princess Raiyah HRH Princess Haya HRH Prince Ali HRH Princess Rym HRH Princess Jalila HRH Prince Abdullah Princess Dina HRH Princess Alia HRH Princess Muna HRH Prince Faisal HRH Princess Zeina HRH Princess Ayah HRH Prince Omar HRH Princess Sara HRH Princess Aisha HRH Princess Aisha HRH Princess Zein HRH Prince Muhammad HRH Princess Taghrid HRH Prince Talal HRH Princess Ghida HRH Prince Hussein HRH Prince Muhammad HRH Princess Rajaa HRH Prince Ghazi HRH Princess Areej HRH Princess Tasneem HRH Prince Abdullah HRH Princess Jennah HRH Princess Salsabil HRH Princess Firyal HRH Prince Hassan HRH Princess Sarvath HRH Princess Rahma HRH Princess Sumaya HRH Princess Badiya HRH Prince Rashid HRH Princess Zeina HRH Prince Hassan HRH Prince Talal HRH Princess Basma HRH Prince Ali HRH Princess Reema HRH Prince Muhammad HRH Princess Sima HRH Prince Hamzah HRH Princess Rania HRH Princess Karma HRH Princess Na'afa HRH Princess Rajwa HRH Princess Basma Fatima HRH Prince Asem HRH Princess Sana HRH Princess Yasmine HRH Princess Sarah HRH Princess Noor HRH Princess Salha HRH Princess Nejla HRH Prince Nayef

Prince Hassan bin Talal (Arabic: الحسن بن طلال‎, born 20 March 1947 in Amman), is a member of the Jordanian royal family.

Family

Prince Hassan is the son of King Talal and Queen Zein al-Sharaf, brother of King Hussein and uncle of King Abdullah II.

In 1968, Prince Hassan married Sarvath Ikramullah, daughter of the politician and diplomat Mohammed Ikramullah, and female politician, diplomat and Urdu author, Begum Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah. Both her parents from prominent Bengali families born in then British India. They first met in London in 1958, when they were both youngsters and have four children together:

• Princess Rahma (born 13 August 1969)
• Princess Sumaya (born 14 May 1971)
• Princess Badiya (born 28 March 1974)
• Prince Rashid (born 20 May 1979)

Education

Prince Hassan was educated first in Amman. He then attended Summer Fields School, Oxford, and Harrow School in England, then Christ Church, a college of the University of Oxford,^[1] where he graduated BA with Honours in Oriental Studies and later proceeded to MA. Hassan is fluent in Arabic, English, French and German. He has a working knowledge of Turkish and Spanish, and studied Hebrew at university.^[2]

Career

In 1965 Hassan was named as Crown Prince of Jordan after the constitution was amended.^[3] He was frequently regent during his brother's absences from the country. During Hussein's final illness in January 1999, he was replaced by his nephew Abdullah only days before the king died.^[4] Abdullah subsequently inherited the throne of Jordan.

In 2009, he joined the project "Soldiers of Peace", a movie against all wars and for global peace.^[5][6]

On 10 June 2013, he was appointed as the chairman of advisory board on water and sanitation (UNSGAB) by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.^[7]

Organizations

The following includes some of the organizations that Prince Hassan belongs to and/or founded.

Member of the:

• Global Leadership Foundation, an organization which works to support democratic leadership, prevent and resolve conflict through mediation and promote good governance in the form of democratic institutions, open markets, human rights and the rule of law. It does so by making available, discreetly and in confidence, the experience of former leaders to today’s national leaders. It is a not-for-profit organization composed of former heads of government, senior governmental and international organization officials who work closely with Heads of Government on governance-related issues of concern to them.
• Chairman the United Nations Secretary-General's Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation (UNSGAB), June 2013 -.
• Advisory Board of the think tank Gold Mercury International, London, UK
• board of directors of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, Washington, DC (2002)
• Board of Trustees of the Foundation for Interreligious and Intercultural Research and Dialogue (FIIRD), University of Geneva, Switzerland^[8]
• Executive Committee of the International Crisis Group
• The International Advisory Board of Forum 2000
• Committee of Personalities of Institut Catala De La Mediterrania
• Informal Advisory Group to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
• the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor
• International Board of the Council on Foreign Relations
• World Future Council
• Board of World Religious Leaders for The Elijah Interfaith Institute^[9]
• Trilateral Commission
• Member of the Advisory Council for Research of the Center for Democracy and Community Development (2010)
• In June 2003, following the U.N. General Assembly resolution 56/266, Hassan was elected as one of five regional experts in the Independent Eminent Experts group, appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, to implement the Declaration and Programme of Action of the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance that took place in Durban, South Africa, in 2001.

Moderator of the:

• World Conference of Religions for Peace

Patron of the:

• Post-War Reconstruction and Development Unit (PRDU), University of York^[10]
• The Co-existence of Civilizations
• Rights and Humanity

Founder and/or Chairman of the:

• Policy Advisory Commission for the World Intellectual Property Organisation (1999–2002)
• Co-Chair of the Independent Bureau for Humanitarian Issues
• Co-Chair of the Independent Commission on International Humanitarian Issues (ICIHI)
• The Higher Council for Science and Technology
• Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies (RIIFS)
• Foundation for Intercultural and Interfaith Research and Dialogue
• Kawakibi Democracy Transition Center
• West Asia – North Africa Forum (WANA Forum)

President of the:

• Club of Rome 1999–2007
• President and Founder of the Arab Thought Forum since 1981
• board of directors for the Center for Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution at OU
• The Parliament of Cultures
• Royal Jordanian Polo Club
• Co-president of the International Tolerance Foundation for Humanities and Social Studies

Honorary President of the:

• Euro-Mediterranean Association for Cooperation and Development since 2012^[11]

Established the:

• Al al-Bayt University in Mafraq
• Hashemite Aid and Relief Agency
• Islamic Scientific Academy
• Triannual Conferences on the History and Archaeology of Jordan
• The Amman Baccalaureate School
• The Al-Hassan Youth Award

Founded the:

• Royal Scientific Society (1970)
• Annual Bilad Al-Sham Conference (1978)
• Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought (1980)

Honorary degrees and doctorates

In 2002, Prince Hassan was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of York, in recognition of his contribution to the field of post-war reconstruction and development.^[10] In 2004 he was awarded an honorary fellowship by York St John University, for his lifelong contribution to peace initiatives in the Middle East, humanitarian projects and inspirational leadership in interfaith dialogue.

• Honorary Degree of Science, Boğaziçi University, Turkey (1981)
• Honorary Degree of Doctor of Civil Law, Durham University, U.K. (1990)
• Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies, U.S.A (1995)
• Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters, University of Ulster, Northern Ireland (1996)
• Honorary Doctorate, Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Russia (1997)
• Honorary Doctorate of Laws, University of Birmingham, U.K. (1999)
• Honorary Doctorate, Bilkent University, Turkey (1999)
• Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws (Hon LLB), University of Hertfordshire, U.K. (2000)
• Honorary Doctorate of Theology, University of Tübingen, Germany (2001)
• Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, University of Oklahoma, U.S.A. (2002)
• Honorary Doctorate, University of York, U.K. (2002)
• Honorary Doctorate of Laws, University of Portsmouth, U.K. (2002)
• Honorary Doctorate of Laws, International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan (2005)
• Honorary Degree of LLD Honoris Causa, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London, U.K. (2005)^[12]
• Honorary Degree and the Medal of the World Academy, Old Dominion University, U.S.A (2005)
• Doctorate Honoris Causa, Universidade Cândido Mendes (UCAM), Brazil (2006)
• Doctorate Honoris Causa, Institute of Higher Education of Brasilia (IESB), Brazil (2006)
• Doctorate Honoris Causa, Faculdades Metropolitanas Unidas (FMU), Brazil (2006)
• Honorary Degree in Human Letters, Brandeis University, U.S.A (2006)
• Honorary Degree, Soka University, Japan (2006)
• Honorary Doctorate, the Faculty of Humanities, University of Lund, Sweden (2007).
• Doctorate Honoris Causa Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary (2007).
• Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (2008)
• Doctorate Honoris Causa in Multicultural Communication For Human And Nations Development, Hasanuddin University, Indonesia, 2012

Publications

• To Be A Muslim: Islam, Peace, and Democracy, Alain Elkann coauthor, Sussex Academic Press, Handcover, December 2003, (96 pages), ISBN 1-903900-81-6.
• Christianity in the Arab World, SCM Press with Foreword by the Prince of Wales, 1995, (120 pages), ISBN 0-8264-1094-4.
• Palestinian Self-Determination: A Study of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Quartet Books, New York 1981, ISBN 0-7043-2312-5.

Abraham Geiger Award

The 2008 Abraham Geiger Award, named after liberal thinker of Judaism Abraham Geiger (1810–1874), was conferred upon Prince Hassan bin Talal. The award ceremony was held in Berlin on 4 March 2008. Past recipients include Cardinal Karl Lehmann, Alfred Grosser, Emil Fackenheim and Susannah Heschel.^[13]

"Honouring the President Emeritus of the World Conference of Religions for Peace underlines Prince Hassan's courage in defending pluralism, promoting understanding among different cultures and enhancing dialogue between Jews, Muslims and Christians. The Prince's efforts to promote understanding between the Islamic and Western Worlds are crucial at a time when we seem to be drifting apart, with perceived differences appearing to overwhelm the many things we have in common, both culturally and religiously."^[13]

Awards and prizes

• The Four Freedoms Award Freedom of Worship - May 2014
• The Abu Bakr Al-Siddique Medal of the Organisation of Arab Red Crescent and Red Cross Societies – September 1996.
• The 1995 Science and Society Prize in Madrid.
• The inaugural Gandhi/King/Ikeda Community Builders Medal and Torch of Nonviolence – April 2001.
• The Distinguished Foreign Visitor Award at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston – April 2002.
• The 2003 Rabbi Marc H. Tanenbaum Award for the Advancement of Inter-religious Understanding – June 2003.
• The Abraham Fund Pioneer of Co-existence Award (New York) – January 2004.
• The Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Sash (2nd Class), for his services to the Republic of Austria – 1977 & 15 October 2004.^[14]
• The 2005 Eternal Flame Award by the Annual Scholars’ Conference of the U.S.
• The Calgary Peace Prize – 2007.
• A medal to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the adoption of UNESCO's Constitution, at the inaugural meeting of the Tolerance Foundation held at the Yusupov Palace, St. Petersburg, Russia – May 2007.
• The 2008 Abraham Geiger Award for Peace.
• The Niwano Peace Prize in Japan – May 2008.
• The Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani medallion – Iqbal Academy, UK – 2008.
• The Peace Prize of the City of Augsburg – Germany – 2008.
• Knight Gran Cordon of the Order of al-Hussein bin Ali with collar (20/03/1987).
• Knight Gran Cordon of the Supreme Order of the Renaissance special class.
• Knight Grand Cordon of the Order of Independence.
• Knight Gran Cordon of the Order of the Star of Jordan.^[15]
• King Hussein Silver Jubilee (1977).
• Medal of Service 1967-1971 (1971)
• The Great Ramadan War (1973).
• Commander Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star (08/09/1989).^[16]
• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau ^[17]
• Knight Grand Cordon of the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum (1970).
• Knight Grand Star of the Order of the Crown of Iran.
• Knight of the Order of the Seraphim.
• Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order.
• Knight Grand Cordon of the Order of the Nile.
• Knight Grand Cordon of the National Order of the Cedar.
• Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav.
• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (26/11/1983).^[18]
• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III (18/03/1977).^[19]

Ancestry

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Prince Hassan bin Talal.

• Picture of Prince Hassan (taken from the BBC)
• The Estimate – Jordan's Stunning Change: The Shift in Hashemite Succession
• Interview with Prince Hassan on CBC Radio's As It Happens (2 February 2011)
• Abraham Geiger College – Abraham Geiger Award 2008 goes to HRH Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan (2 November 2007)