Foulath Mohammed Hadid (7 March 1937–29 September 2012) was an Iraqi writer, and expert on Arab affairs.
- ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' 11 October 2012

Biography

Born in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

in 1937, the son of the Marxist Iraqi economist, cabinet minister and democracy advocate

Mohammed Hadid Mohammed Hadid (January 1, 1907 – August 3, 1999) was an Iraqi economist, democracy advocate, Minister of Finance of Iraq between 1958 and 1960 and the father of internationally recognized architect Zaha Hadid. Early years and family Moha ...

and the brother of Haytham Hadid and the noted architect

Zaha Hadid Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid ( ''Zahā Ḥadīd''; 31 October 1950 – 31 March 2016) was an Iraqi-born British architect, artist, and designer. She is recognised as a key figure in the architecture of the late-20th and early-21st centuries. Born ...

, his mother Wajiha al-Sabunji was an artist from Mosul. His father being a founding member of the Iraqi National Democratic Party, Foulath Hadid was strongly influenced by his father's political views as he grew up in a household where other leading members of the Party were regular visitors. He attended Victoria College in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

from 1947 to 1956 before studying law at Christ's College, Cambridge. He went on to study Business at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and became a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. He opened an office for the accountancy firm Arthur Young in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

and became a Partner in Peat, Marwick and Mitchell. He met his wife Lalla Kenza Alaoui while both were working in Washington, DC. Their daughter

Tala Hadid Tala Hadid (born in London) is a film director and producer. She is also a photographer. Her work has been shown at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, The Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis, The Smithsonian National Museum, The National M ...

is a painter and award-winning film-maker. The family divided their time between Europe, North America and the Middle East. A keen sportsman, Hadid played golf and was a regular visitor in the Royal Box at

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

. On his retirement Hadid was introduced to

St Antony's College St Antony's College is a colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1950 as the result of the gift of French merchant Sir Antonin Besse of Aden, St Antony's specialises in intern ...

by his friend

Patrick Seale Patrick Abram Seale (7 May 1930 – 11 April 2014) was a British journalist and author who specialised in the Middle East. A former correspondent for ''The Observer'', he interviewed many Middle Eastern leaders and personalities. Seale was a ...

and was elected to a Senior Associate Membership to enable him to edit and publish ''Mudhakkarati'' in 2006, the memoirs of his father

. The book was hailed as one of the most important Arab political memoirs of recent years. Years before the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring () was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings, and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began Tunisian revolution, in Tunisia ...

it was Hadid's belief that one day the Arab people would rise up and demand political freedom. "He condemned European imperialism, American hegemony, and autocratic Arab governments equally in denying the Arab people their legitimate aspirations." Having been accepted to read for a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

degree at Oxford he began working on his thesis, a history of Iraq's democracy movement in the 1940s and 1950s. However, instead he finished the work as his next book, ''Iraq's Democratic Moment'', published posthumously in 2012. He received an advance copy at his hospital bed. Zaha Hadid Grave Brookwood Cemetery

During the 12 years Hadid was involved at St Antony's, he raised funds to establish an annual award to support doctoral students in Middle Eastern studies, the Hadid Scholarship. At his suggestion, his sister

designed a major new building for the Middle East Centre. In addition, he aided

Warden A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically ident ...

Margaret MacMillan Margaret Olwen MacMillan (born 23 December 1943) is a Canadian historian and professor at the University of Oxford. She is former provost of Trinity College, Toronto, and professor of history at the University of Toronto and previously at Ryers ...

in securing the funding which allowed the College to begin a transforming building complex, which was completed in 2013. For his services to the College Hadid was elected to an Honorary Fellowship in 2004, and the Hadid Room, the College's meeting room, was named in his honour. Foulath Hadid died in September 2012 after a short illness and was survived by his wife, his daughter Tala, his son Nik Williams, his elder brother Haytham Hadid and his sister

, the latter having subsequently died in 2016. He is buried with his father and sister in

Brookwood Cemetery Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe. The cemetery is listed a Grade I site in the Regist ...

.Obituary for Foulath Hadid
- ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' 2 October 2012

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hadid, Foulath 1937 births 2012 deaths People from Baghdad Victoria College, Alexandria alumni Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Harvard Business School alumni Fellows of St Antony's College, Oxford Burials at Brookwood Cemetery Iraqi emigrants to the United Kingdom