Abdullah Omran Taryam (1948–2014) was the co-founder of Dar Al Khaleej Printing & Publishing, the publishing house based in

Sharjah Sharjah (; ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It is the capital of the Emirate of Sharjah and forms part of the D ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

. Together with his brother, Taryam Omran Taryam, he founded the first UAE daily national newspaper '' Al Khaleej'', as well as the English-language daily ''

Gulf Today ''Gulf Today'' is an English-language daily newspaper based in Sharjah, the United Arab Emirates. It is one of the four UAE broadsheet newspapers. The newspaper was launched on 15 April 1996 by brothers Taryam Omran Taryam and Abdullah Omran T ...

''.

Early life

Abdullah Omran Taryam was born in Sharjah in 1948 and educated in Sharjah and

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

. He received a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in history from the

University of Cairo Cairo University () is Egypt's premier public university. Its main campus is in Giza, immediately across the Nile from Cairo. It was founded on 21 December 1908;"Brief history and development of Cairo University." Cairo University Faculty of En ...

in 1966, then completed his doctorate in modern history at the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in 1986. In 1970, Abdullah co-founded

Dar Al Khaleej Dar Al Khaleej Printing & Publishing () is a publishing house based in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. The company was established in 1970 with the launch of the daily '' Al Khaleej'' newspaper. The company, whose name literally means ''Gulf Hous ...

together with his brother Taryam, and launched a weekly magazine ''Al Shurouq''. This was followed on 19 October 1970 with the launch of '' Al Khaleej'', the first newspaper in what was then the Trucial State of Sharjah. On 15 April 1996, the brothers subsequently launched the English language national daily ''

''. Abdullah worked as a secondary school teacher at Al Orouba School before becoming Director of the Department of Education in Sharjah.

Political career

Together with his brother, Abdullah was part of the team that negotiated the establishment of the union of the United Arab Emirates, which became independent on 2 December 1971. Abdullah Taryam was the UAE's first

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

from 1971 to 1972, going on to serve as UAE Minister of Education from 1972 to 1979. He served a second term as Minister of Justice from 1990 to 1997. Together with his brother, Abdullah developed Dar Al Khaleej's stable of titles to include two newspapers, two weekly and two monthly magazines. He was a prominent journalist and author as well as a businessman, and was the author of ''The Establishment of the United Arab Emirates 1950-85'', published by Routledge. He was described as a "role model" in the field of journalism. In 2002, together with Taryam he launched the annual Taryam and Abdullah Omran Press Award. Abdullah Omran Taryam died on 30 January 2014 of a stroke. His passing was marked by national mourning.

References

{{Authority control 1948 births 2014 deaths Emirati journalists Emirati politicians Emirati businesspeople Cairo University alumni Alumni of the University of Exeter