Ahmad Toukan

Ahmad Tuqan
Official portrait from 1960
Prime Minister of Jordan
In office
26 September 1970 – 28 October 1970
MonarchKing Hussein
Preceded byMohammad Daoud Al-Abbasi
Succeeded byWasfi al-Tal
Personal details
Born(1903-08-15)15 August 1903
Nablus, Beirut vilayet, Ottoman Empire
Died5 January 1981(1981-01-05) (aged 77)
Amman, Jordan
Political partyIndependent

Ahmad Toukan[a] (Arabic: أحمد طوقان, romanizedAḥmad Ṭūqān;‎ 15 August 1903 – 5 January 1981[1]) was a Jordanian political leader of Palestinian descent. He was briefly the 20th Prime Minister of Jordan from 26 September 1970 to 28 October 1970, during a crackdown that drove the PLO guerillas out of Jordan.[2]

Life

Tuqan was born in Nablus, then part of the Ottoman Empire.[3] He was the eldest brother of Ibrahim Touqan and Fadwa Touqan, both of whom were poets.[citation needed]

He was on the staff of the Arab College in Palestine during the British Mandatory period.[3]

He died in Jordan on 5 January 1981, aged 77, after a prolonged illness.[1] The Ahmad Toukan School in Amman is named in his honor.

Education and career

Toukan occupied the following high-ranking positions:

  • UNESCO Expert and UNRWA Deputy Head of Education (1954–1961)
  • Education Expert at the International Bank for Reconstruction & Development (1962–1966)
  • Minister (including Foreign Minister, Minister of State and Deputy Prime Minister during the years 1950–1970)
  • Prime Minister in 1970
  • Chief of the Royal Hashemite Court of Jordan in 1972
  • Chairman of University of Jordan's Board of Trustees in 1972.[citation needed]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Also romanized as Ahmad Tuqan.

References

  1. ^ a b "Ahmed Toukan, 78, Ex-Premier; Led Jordan During '70 Crackdown". The New York Times. 5 January 1981.
  2. ^ Hess, John L. (27 September 1970). "Hussein Forms a New Regime But Is Assailed by Commandos". The New York Times..
  3. ^ a b Khalidi, Walid. Before Their Diaspora : A Photographic History of the Palestinians, 1876-1948. Washington, D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies, 1991, 172.
Political offices
Preceded by Prime Minister of Jordan
1970
Succeeded by