Humayun Rasheed Choudhury ( bn, হুমায়ূন রশীদ চৌধুরী; 11 November 1928 – 10 July 2001) was a Bangladeshi career diplomat and
Speaker of the
Bangladesh National Parliament
The Jatiya Sangsad ( bn, জাতীয় সংসদ, lit=National Parliament, translit=Jatiyô Sôngsôd), often referred to simply as the ''Sangsad'' or JS and also known as the House of the Nation, is the supreme legislative body of B ...
from 1996 to 2001. He was elected president of the 41st session of the
UN General Assembly in 1986.
He was awarded
Independence Day Award
The Independence Day Award ( bn, স্বাধীনতা পদক), also termed Independence Award ( bn, স্বাধীনতা পুরস্কার), Swadhinata Padak, and Swadhinata Puroskar, is the highest state award given by t ...
in 2018 posthumously by the
Government of Bangladesh
The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ সরকার — ) is the central executive government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Co ...
.
Early life and education
Choudhury was born on 11 November 1928, to a
Bengali Muslim
Bengali Muslims ( bn, বাঙালি মুসলমান; ) are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising about two-thirds of the global Bengali population, they are the sec ...
political family in
Sylhet, erstwhile
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
. Their ancestral home is in
Dargapasha in
Sunamganj District
Sunamganj ( bn, সুনামগঞ্জ) is a district located in north-eastern Bangladesh within the Sylhet Division.
History
In the ancient period, Sunamganj was part of the Laur Kingdom. After the conquest of Sylhet (Kingdom of Gauiurh) ...
.
He was the eldest of the seven children of Abdur Rasheed Choudhury (d. 1944) and
Begum Serajunnessa Choudhury (1910–1974). Abdur was a member of the
Assam Legislative Assembly and later a member of the
Central Legislative Assembly
The Central Legislative Assembly was the lower house of the Imperial Legislative Council, the legislature of British India. It was created by the Government of India Act 1919, implementing the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms. It was also sometim ...
in
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...
. Serajunessa was elected a member of
Pakistan National Assembly
The National Assembly ( ur, , translit=Aiwān-e-Zairīñ, , or ur, قومی اسمبلی, romanized: ''Qaumi Assembly'') is the lower legislative house of the bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, which also comprises the Senate of Pakistan (upp ...
.
Choudhury passed the matriculation exam from
Sylhet Government Pilot High School. Later he studied in
St. Edmund's College in
Shillong. He graduated from
Aligarh Muslim University in 1947. He then studied for the English Bar and became a member of the
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and ...
in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. He obtained a diploma in International Affairs from the London Institute of World Affairs. He later graduated from
The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy is the graduate school of international affairs of Tufts University, in Medford, Massachusetts. The School is one of America's oldest graduate schools of international relations and is well-ranked in it ...
in
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
, United States. He gained fluency in Bengali, English,
,
French and
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
, and was conversational in
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
,
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
,
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
,
German and
Indonesian.
Career
Choudhury joined the
Pakistan Foreign Service in 1953. During his diplomatic career with Pakistan, he held various assignments in Rome, Baghdad, Paris, Lisbon, Jakarta and New Delhi. During the
Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, he defected to the
Provisional Government of Bangladesh. He negotiated the recognition of Bangladesh by over 40 countries. On
Victory Day, 1971, he addressed the
Indian parliament on behalf of the Bangladeshi people. He became the first Bangladeshi Ambassador to the
Federal Republic of Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...
in 1972, with concurrent accreditation to
Switzerland,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
and the
Holy See
The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...
. He was also the first Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).
In 1975, Choudhury sheltered
Sheikh Hasina
Sheikh Hasina Wazed (''née'' Sheikh Hasina ; ; bn, শেখ হাসিনা ওয়াজেদ, Shēkh Hasinā, , born 28 September 1947) is a Bangladeshi politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh since January 2 ...
and
Sheikh Rehana at his residence in
Bonn
The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...
after the
assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
In 1976, Choudhury became the first Ambassador of Bangladesh to the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He also had concurrent accreditation to
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
and
Oman
Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...
. During this assignment, he represented Bangladesh in the
Organization of the Islamic Conference. He served as the
Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh during 1981–1982. He was appointed Ambassador to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
in June 1982.
As a member or leader of his country's delegations, he attended the
United Nations General Assembly
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...
session; the
Islamic Summit Conference held in
Taif
Taif ( ar, , translit=aṭ-Ṭāʾif, lit=The circulated or encircled, ) is a city and governorate in the Makkan Region of Saudi Arabia. Located at an elevation of in the slopes of the Hijaz Mountains, which themselves are part of the Sarat M ...
, Saudi Arabia (1981); the Islamic Foreign Ministers' Conference in Tripoli (1977), Dakar (1978), Fez, Morocco (1979), Islamabad (1980) and Baghdad (1981); the
North-South Summit on International Cooperation and Development held in
Cancun, Mexico (1981); Meetings of the Islamic Summit-level Peace Committee to resolve
disputes between Iran and Iraq; the extraordinary session on
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
of the Islamic Foreign Ministers in Islamabad (1980); and the extraordinary session on Jerusalem of the Islamic Foreign Ministers held in Amman (1980).
He has also led his country's delegations to a number of bilateral meetings including talks with India on
border delineation,
sharing of Ganges waters, demarcation of the maritime boundary, South Asia Forum (
South Asian Regional Co-operation),
Bangladesh–Burma border demarcation talks, Bangladesh-Saudi Arabia Joint Economic Talks and others. As Chairman of the fourteenth Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers (ICFM XIV), he presided over the Co-ordination Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Islamic Conference while attending the thirty-ninth session of the United Nations General Assembly. He also led the Bangladesh delegation to the Extraordinary Ministerial Meeting of the
non-Aligned Countries on Namibia, held in New Delhi in April 1985, and the Islamic Peace Committee Meeting, held in Jeddah in May 1985. Choudhury was part of the cabinet of President
Hossain Mohammad Ershad
Lt. Gen. Hussain Muhammad Ershad ( bn, হুসেইন মুহাম্মদ এরশাদ; 1 February 1930 – 14 July 2019) was a Bangladeshi Army Chief politician who served as the President of Bangladesh from 1983 to 1990, a time m ...
and a
Jatiya Party Member of Parliament during 1986–1990. He was elected member of the National Parliament in 1996 as a nominee of the
Bangladesh Awami League
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
and was elected Speaker of the Parliament.
He died in Dhaka due to a heart attack on July 10, 2001.
He was buried in
Shah Jalal Dargah Cemetery in
Sylhet.
Awards
* Mahatma Gandhi Peace Prize by the
College of William and Mary in Virginia (1984)
*
U Thant Peace Award[
* ]Independence Day Award
The Independence Day Award ( bn, স্বাধীনতা পদক), also termed Independence Award ( bn, স্বাধীনতা পুরস্কার), Swadhinata Padak, and Swadhinata Puroskar, is the highest state award given by t ...
(2018)
Personal life
Humayun Rashid Choudhury was married to Mehjabeen Choudhury (1931-2018). They had a daughter Nasrine R Karim (1949–2010) and a son Nauman Rasheed Choudhury (1950-2017).[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Choudhury, Humayun Rashid
1928 births
2001 deaths
People from Dakshin Sunamganj Upazila
Aligarh Muslim University alumni
Speakers of the Jatiya Sangsad
International Atomic Energy Agency officials
Presidents of the United Nations General Assembly
Permanent Representatives of Bangladesh to the United Nations
Foreign ministers of Bangladesh
The Fletcher School at Tufts University alumni
Ambassadors of Bangladesh to Switzerland
Ambassadors of Bangladesh to Austria
Ambassadors of Bangladesh to the Holy See
Ambassadors of Bangladesh to West Germany
Ambassadors of Bangladesh to Saudi Arabia
Ambassadors of Bangladesh to Jordan
Ambassadors of Bangladesh to Oman
Ambassadors of Bangladesh to the United States
Awami League politicians
Jatiya Party politicians
Foreign Secretaries of Bangladesh
Recipients of the Independence Day Award
3rd Jatiya Sangsad members
4th Jatiya Sangsad members
7th Jatiya Sangsad members
Sylhet Government Alia Madrasah alumni