Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.

In the academic year 1956-1957, I was a visiting teacher at Harvard University. Administratively, I was a member of the Government Department (i.e. Political Administration). However, in terms of working I was a teacher at Center for Middle Eastern Studies that had newly been established by the university to be headed by Sir Hamilton Gibb who was previously a teacher of Arabic at London University ( I had attended two courses with him, one in Arabic language and the other in Islamic organizations (1935-1936). After that he moved to Oxford University. In 1947 I met him again in England.

Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, who died on Monday at the age of 70, was the uncle of Karim Aga Khan IV, the spiritual leader of the Ismaili Shia Muslims.
Born in Paris in 1933, he was the second son of the late Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan, the 48th hereditary Imam and the late Princess Andree Aga Khan. The family traces its bloodline to the Prophet.

Educated in Lausanne and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard University, Prince Sadruddin chose a career in politics and rose almost to the top of the United Nations. He devoted much of his life to global environmental causes.

Benazir Bhutto, the Pakistan People?s Party chairperson, has said that Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan will be mourned not only by his family, friends and the Ismaili community but also by ?the larger world where he was well known and respected?.In her condolence letter to the late prince?s widow, Ms Bhutto wrote: ?So many will mourn the passing of a sensitive man of enormous intelligence, understanding and compassion. I will mourn him for all those reasons. I will mourn him too as a good friend of my family over many decades.?

Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, who died on Monday aged 70, was the uncle of Karim Aga Khan IV, the spiritual leader of the Ismaili Shia Muslims, and was himself a philanthropist, collector of Islamic art and the holder of several senior humanitarian posts at the United Nations.Sadruddin was both the youngest and longest-serving UN High Commissioner for Refugees, taking over the post in 1965 aged 32 and remaining in office for 12 years. He was praised for the way in which the UN handled major refugee crises in Biafra during the Nigerian civil war in the 1960s, and in Bangladesh, Vietnam and Chile.

Avec le décès de Sadruddin Aga Khan, Genève perd l?une de ses grandes figures internationales.
Il a été l?un des pionniers de la cause environnementale, comme le rappelle à Frédéric Burnand son ami Philippe Roch, directeur de l?Office fédéral de l?environnement.
C?est au Massachusetts Boston Hospital que le prince Sadruddin Aga Khan est mort lundi, des suites d?une longue maladie.
Installé à Genève depuis 1959, le prince était l?un des descendants de l?illustre et richissime famille Aga Khan.