Samih Darwazah (, 1930 – 15 May 2015) was the founder of

Hikma Pharmaceuticals Hikma Pharmaceuticals plc is a British multinational pharmaceutical company with headquarters in London, UK that manufactures non-branded generic and in-licensed pharmaceutical products. It was founded by Samih Darwazah in Amman, Jordan in ...

, Jordan's largest pharmaceutical business, the Jordanian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources from 1995 to 1996, and later a senator in the

Jordanian parliament The Parliament of Jordan ( ') is the bicameral Jordanian national assembly. Established by the 1952 Constitution, the legislature consists of two houses: the Senate ( ''Majlis Al-Aayan'') and the House of Representatives ( ''Majlis Al-Nuwaab' ...

Early life

Samih Darwazah was born in

Nablus Nablus ( ; , ) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 156,906. Located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a ...

. His father was a tea merchant. At the age of 10, he became the youngest child to attend the Arab College of Jerusalem. He studied for a master's degree at the

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB; ) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its main campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, autonomous board of trustees and offers programs le ...

, Darwazah received a master's degree from the St. Louis College of Pharmacy,

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, which he attended on a

Fulbright scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

. In 2010, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the college.

Career

Darwazah worked for

Eli Lilly Eli Lilly (July 8, 1838 – June 6, 1898) was a Union Army officer, pharmacist, chemist, and businessman who founded Eli Lilly and Company. Lilly enlisted in the Union Army during the American Civil War and recruited a company of men to ...

from 1964 to 1976, before establishing

in 1978. Between 1995 and 1996, he served as Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources to the Government of Jordan. He also founded the ''Jordan Trade Association'' and was a member of the Advisory Economic Council to the

King of Jordan The king of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan () is the monarchical head of state of Jordan. He serves as the head of the Jordanian monarchy—the Hashemites, Hashemite dynasty. The king is addressed as Majesty, His Majesty (). Jordan is a const ...

. In 2007, Darwazah was named the Ernst & Young Middle East Entrepreneur of the Year. He was named chairman of Capital Bank in Jordan in 2009. He founded Hikma in 1978 in

Amman, Jordan Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the List of largest cities in the ...

. His children joined the business in its early days. The company expanded outside the

MENA region The Middle East and North Africa (MENA), also referred to as West Asia and North Africa (WANA) or South West Asia and North Africa (SWANA), is a geographic region which comprises the Middle East (also called West Asia) and North Africa together ...

, establishing operations in Europe and the US, and was the first Arab company to export pharmaceutical products to the U.S. in 1996. In March 2015, it entered the

FTSE 100 The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is the United Kingdom's best-known stock market index of the 100 most market capitalisation, highly capitalised ...

index.

Publications

In 2004, Darwazah published his business memoir, ''Building a Global Success''.

Personal life

He was married to Samira Fadli and they had four children, sons Said and Mazen, and daughters May and Hana, all of whom survived him. His son, Said Darwazah, succeeded him as CEO in 2007. The Darwazah family founded the Samih Darwazah Center for Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship at the Suliman S. Olayan

School of Business A business school is a higher education institution or professional school that teaches courses leading to degrees in business administration or management. A business school may also be referred to as school of management, management school, s ...

in 2011.

References

External links

Prime Ministry of Jordan website

Hikma.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Darwazah, Samih Businesspeople in the pharmaceutical industry Palestinian businesspeople Jordanian businesspeople 2015 deaths 1930 births American University of Beirut people University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis alumni Health ministers of Jordan Members of the Senate of Jordan