Fuad Hamza

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Fuad Hamza
Personal details
Born1899
Abey, Lebanon
Died1951 (aged 51–52)
NationalitySaudi Arabian
Alma materAmerican College of Beirut
Jerusalem Law School

Fuad Hamza, also known as Fuad Bey Hamza, (1899–1951) was a Palestinian who served as Saudi ambassador to France and the United States and as King Abdulaziz's adviser and representative. Hafiz Wahba and he were the first ambassadors of Saudi Arabia, the former in the United Kingdom and the latter in France. In addition, they were among the advisers whom King Abdulaziz employed to improve the decision-making process of the state.[1]

Biography[]

Fuad Hamza was born in Abey, Lebanon, in 1899.[2][3] He was from Palestine.[4] Clive Leatherdale argues that he was a Druze from Lebanon.[5] Isadore Jay Gold also argues that he was a Druze, but from Syria.[6] Hamza was a graduate of the American College of Beirut and the Jerusalem Law School.[7]

Hamza was one of the personal advisers of King Abdulaziz[8] and first served him as a translator.[3] Next he was made a member of the political committee at the Saudi royal court.[9] He was appointed deputy foreign minister in 1930 replacing Abdullah Al Damluji in the post, an Iraqi adviser of King Abdulaziz.[10] Following the announcement of the constitution of the council of deputies (Majlis al Wukala) in December 1931 Hamza was made one of four members of the council as the deputy for foreign affairs.[11] In this capacity Hamza signed an amity treaty on behalf of Saudi Arabia with Egypt in Cairo on 7 May 1936.[12][13] Through the treaty Egypt recognized Saudi Arabia as an independent and sovereign state, and diplomatic relations between two countries were started.[13] The same year King Abdulaziz named Hamza as his emissary to the Palestine issue, but Hamza could not attend the meetings due to his illness.[14] However, Hamza met with David Ben Gurion, chairman of the Zionist and Jewish Agency Executive, at his Beirut home on 13 April 1937.[7] In this unofficial meeting Ben Gurion attempted to get information about King Abdulaziz's views on the formation of a Jewish state in the Middle East, and Hamza suggested him to meet with Ibn Saud as well as Crown Prince Saud and Yusuf Yasin during the latter's visit to London for the coronation of King George VI.[7] In 1938 Hamza visited Germany to negotiate arms sales and met with Nazi officials.[15]

Hamza was named as the Saudi ambassador to France in 1939.[6][16] He represented Saudi Arabia in the Vichy Conference and the Ankara Conference which was held during World War II.[4] Hamza attempted to coordinate a correspondence between King Abdulaziz and Adolf Hitler in the same period.[10] In November 1941 the King sent a telegram to Hamza stating that his attempts to make a connection with Nazi Germany would be harmful for Saudi Arabia, and ordered him to terminate all his relations with Nazi officials.[17]

Following World War II Hamza was made Saudi ambassador to the United States.[18] He worked at the Foreign Ministry of Saudi Arabia as deputy minister until his death in 1951.[10][19] Yusuf Yasin replaced him in the post.[19]

Hamza published several books on Saudi Arabia.[11]

References[]

  1. ^ Joseph Kostiner (July 1985). "On Instruments and Their Designers: The Ikhwan of Najd and the Emergence of the Saudi State" (PDF). Middle Eastern Studies. 21 (3): 315. JSTOR 4283073.
  2. ^ Abdullah F. Alrebh (2014). The public presentation of authority in Saudi Arabia during the 20th century: A discursive analysis of The London Times and The New York Times (PhD thesis). Michigan State University. ProQuest 1641132379.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Khalid Abdullah Krairi (October 2016). John Philby and his political roles in the Arabian Peninsula, 1917-1953 (PDF) (PhD thesis). University of Birmingham. p. 351.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Mohamed Zayyan Al Jazairi (1968). Diplomatic history of Saudi Arabia, 1903-1960's (PDF) (PhD thesis). University of Arizona. p. 45.
  5. ^ Clive Leatherdale (1983). Britain and Saudi Arabia, 1925-1939: The Imperial Oasis. Psychology Press. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-7146-3220-9.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Isadore Jay Gold (1984). The United States and Saudi Arabia, 1933-1953: Post-Imperial Diplomacy and the Legacy of British Power (PhD thesis). Columbia University. p. 22. ProQuest 303285941.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b c Jerald L. Thompson (December 1981). H. St. John Philby, Ibn Saud and Palestine (PDF) (MA thesis). DTIC.
  8. ^ "The diplomat who said 'No' to Saudi oil". BBC. 8 November 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  9. ^ Madawi Al Rasheed (2010). A History of Saudi Arabia (Second ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 83. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511993510. ISBN 978-0-5217-4754-7.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b c Alexei Vassiliev (1 September 2013). The History of Saudi Arabia. Saqi. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-86356-779-7.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b Charles W. Harrington (Winter 1958). "The Saudi Arabian Council of Ministers". The Middle East Journal. 12 (1): 1–19. JSTOR 4322975.
  12. ^ Ashraf Saleh Mohamed Sayed (June 2014). "Friendship & Cooperation Treaty Between The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia And The Kingdom of Egypt May-November 1936" (PDF). Liwa. 6 (11): 27–52.
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b "Amity Treaty Signed by Egypt and Arabia". The New York Times. Cairo. 11 May 1936. ProQuest 101898157.
  14. ^ M. J. Cohen (April 1983). "Origins of the Arab States' Involvement in Palestine". Middle Eastern Studies. 19 (2): 244–252. doi:10.1080/00263208308700545. JSTOR 4282938.
  15. ^ Basheer M. Nafi (Spring 1997). "The Arabs and the Axis: 1933-1940". Arab Studies Quarterly. 19 (2): 7. JSTOR 41858205.
  16. ^ Bernard Lewis; Buntzie Ellis Churchill (10 May 2012). Notes on a Century: Reflections of a Middle East Historian. Penguin Publishing Group. p. 58. ISBN 978-1-101-57523-9.
  17. ^ Matthew Fallon Hinds (July 2012). Anglo-American Relations in Saudi Arabia, 1941-1945: A Study of a Trying Relationship (PDF) (PhD thesis). London School of Economics and Political Science. p. 83.
  18. ^ "Memorandum of Conversation, by the Director of the Office of Near Eastern and African Affairs (Henderson)". Office of the Historian. 17 January 1947. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  19. ^ Jump up to: a b Michael Quentin Morton (2015). "The Buraimi affair: oil prospecting and drawing the frontiers of Saudi Arabia". Asian Affairs. 46 (1): 9. doi:10.1080/03068374.2014.994960. S2CID 159991702.
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