Profile Text
Birth Name: Zeid bin Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein
Place of Birth: Amman, Jordan
Date of Birth: 26 January, 1964
Ethnicity: * paternal grandfather – Arab * paternal grandmother – Turkish * mother – Swedish, as well as remote French and Hungarian
Prince Zeid bin Ra’ad (زید ابن رعد الحسين) is a Jordanian diplomat. He has been the Perry World House Professor of the Practice of Law and Human Rights at the University of Pennsylvania. He was also Permanent Representative of Jordan to the United Nations, from 7 August 2000 to 2 January 2007, and again, from September 2010 to 22 July 2014; President of the Assembly of States Parties of the International Criminal Court, from 2002 to 2004; Ambassador of Jordan to the U.S., from 22 January, 2007 to 27 February, 2010; and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, from 1 September, 2014 to 31 August, 2018. He was known as Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein in the latter job.
Prince Zeid’s father, Prince Ra’ad bin Zeid, was born in Berlin, Nazi Germany, of the Hashemite dynasty, and is the current Pretender to Head of the royal houses of Iraq and Syria. His own father was Iraqi Ambassador in Berlin at the time of his birth.
Prince Zeid’s mother, Majda Raad (born Margaretha Inga Elisabeth Lind), was born in Arboga, Västmanland, and became a Jordanian princess upon marrying his father.
Prince Zeid is married to American-born Sarah Antonia Butler, of Houston, Texas, who is a humanitarian and maternal and newborn health activist. The couple has three children.
Through the line of Hasan bin Ali, Prince Zeid’s patrilineal ancestry can be traced back to his 40th great-grandfather, Hashim ibn Abd Manaf. But traditionally, Hashim’s patrilineal ancestry can be further traced back to Ibrahim.
Prince Zeid’s paternal grandfather was Prince Zeid bin Hussein (the son of Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca, and of Adila Khanum). Prince Zeid’s grandfather Prince Zeid was born in the Ottoman Empire. Hussein was the son of Ali Pasha bin Muhammad and Sheikha Salha bint Gharam al-Shahar. Adila was the daughter of Salah Bey.
Prince Zeid’s paternal grandmother was Fahrelnissa Şakir (the daughter of Muhammad Shakir Pasha Kaba’aj and Sara Izmat Khanum). Fahrelnissa was born on Büyükada island, İstanbul, Ottoman Empire, and was a Turkish artist best known for her large-scale abstract paintings.
Prince Zeid’s maternal grandfather was Sven Gustav Lind (the son of Karl Gustaf Lind and Jenny Maria Scherqvist). Karl was the son of Carl Axel Lind and Anna Stina Rosengren. Jenny was the daughter of Adolf Wilhelm Scherqvist and Johanna Kjellén.
Prince Zeid’s maternal grandmother was Karin Gunlög Inga Birgitta Grönwall (the daughter of Eugen Assar Alexius Grönwall and Signe Maria Svensson). Assar was the son of Johan Henric Wilhelm Grönwall and Anna Laurentia Ahlström. Signe was the daughter of Per Svensson and Hilma Martina Hallbeck.
Prince Zeid’s matrilineal ancestry can be traced back to his fourth great-grandmother, Anna Maria Nilsson.