King Of Jordan Hussein

Vocation

Notable

Family

Jordanian royalty, crowned the King of Jordan at age 18 and the longest ruling leader in the mid-East. His grandfather, King Abdullah, was assassinated on 7/20/1951, and his father, who was a schizophrenic, was crowned two months later, on 9/06/1951. After ruling for two years, Talal was forced by his condition to step down, and Hussein was crowned king on 5/02/1953. As a survivor of four Arab-Israeli wars, he revitalized Jordan's economy and played a crucial role in peace negotiations. His books include his autobiography, "Uneasy Lies the Head," 1962, and "My 'War' With Israel," 1969. Under Hussein's rule, Jordan was transformed from a desert expanse into an island of stability in the volatile MidEast. The king had held his power through wars and revolts and leaves Jordan more prestigious and more prominent than its population, wealth or strength might merit. His first wife was Princess Dina Abdel Hammid; one daughter, Alia. They divorced in 1957 after 18 months. Four years later he wed Toni Gardiner, 20, a British army officer's daughter who became known as Princess Muna. They had Prince Abdullah in 1962 and Prince Feisal in 1963 and twins Zein and Aisha in 1969; they divorced in 1972. His third wife, in 1972 was Queen Alia Toukan, 24, with whom he had Princess Haya, 1974, Prince Ali, 1975, and adopted son Abir. It was a deep love match and when she died in a helicopter crash in 1977, Hussein was distraught. His fourth marriage, on 6/15/1978, was to a U.S. citizen named Elizabeth Halaby (born August 23, 1951, Washington, DC); the marriage took place after a one-month courtship. After the marriage to the king, Halaby became Queen Noor al-Hussein. Together, the couple had four kids, Prince Hamzah, 1980, Prince Hashim, 1981, Princess Iman, 1983 and Princess Raiyah, 1986. Hussein has a total of 12 kids. After six months of treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, Hussein returned to his county 1/19/1999, said to be fully recovered from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Within days, he turned over the temporary operation of Jordan to his eldest son, Prince Abdullah, and flew back to the U.S. for emergency medical care. When a bone transplant failed, he returned to his country to die. On 2/05/1999, his kidneys failed and he was brain-dead, but was kept on life support while the change-over of power was initiated. He was declared dead on 2/06/1999, 11:43 AM, Jordan, and the powers of the monarchy passed to his oldest son, Abdullah. Link to Wikipedia biography