Saud bin Muhammad bin Ali bin Abdullah bin Jassim bin Muhammed Al Thani (28 February 1966 – 9 November 2014) was a

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

i prince who served as minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage. By the turn of the 21st century, Shaikh Sa’ud had established an international reputation as an avid art collector, both for his own collection as well as those of several state-owned museums he oversaw in

Activity

Culture and art

As Minister of Culture, Arts, and Heritage from 1997, he was entrusted with creating the collections to fill an ambitious program of world-class museums in Qatar, including a Museum of Islamic Art a combined Qatar National Library and Natural History Museum, a Museum of Photography, and a Museum of Traditional Clothes & Textiles. In 2005 he was investigated for misuse of public funds and dismissed from his post.

Various collections

He collected a Leica APO-Telyt-R 1:5.6/1600mm lens, furniture, vintage cars, natural history, jewellery, even bicycles, but it was sometimes unclear if the collections he had assembled belonged to him or to Qatar.

Wildlife preservation

Al Thani founded the

Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation (AWWP) is a privately owned wildlife preserve in the heart of Qatar founded by Qatari Prince Saud bin Muhammed Al Thani. The preservation accommodates the World Heritage Cycad Gene Bank (WHCGB), which operates in con ...

(AWWP), a private conservation and

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

breeding center in Qatar, which focuses on breeding and preservation of rare bird species, particularly the Spix's macaw. Al Wabra is also an important centre for endangered Arabian species such as the

Arabian sand gazelle The Arabian sand gazelle (''Gazella marica'') or reem () is a species of gazelle native to the Middle East, specifically the Arabian and Syrian Deserts. Distribution and conservation Today it survives in the wild in small, isolated populations ...

and the

Arabian oryx The Arabian oryx (''Oryx leucoryx'') or white oryx is a medium-sized antelope with a distinct shoulder bump, long, straight horns, and a tufted tail. It is a bovid, and the smallest member of the genus ''Oryx'', native to desert and steppe areas o ...

Photography competition

The Sheikh also founded the Al-Thani Awards in 2000. It claims to be the biggest photography competition in the Middle-East with roughly 54,000 entrants in 2010.

Private life, death

He was married to Sheikha Amna bint Ahmad bin Hassan bin

Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani Abdullah bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani ( ar, عبد الله بن جاسم بن محمد آل ثاني "Abdullah bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani"), also known as Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani or Sheikh Abdullah bin Qassim Al Thani, ...

. In the chapter "Goldeneye" from the book ''Travels with Myself'' (from

Tahir Shah Tahir Shah ( fa, طاهر شاه, gu, તાહિર શાહ; ''né'' Sayyid Tahir al-Hashimi (Arabic: سيد طاهر الهاشمي); born 16 November 1966) is a British author, journalist and documentary maker of Afghan-Indian descent. ...

), the author narrates a visit to Saud's home and his magnificent art collection. Saud bin Muhammed Al Thani died in London on 9 November 2014.

Children

* Hamad bin Saud * Sara bint Saud * Moza bint Saud

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thani, Saud Bin Muhammed Saud bin Muhammed 1966 births 2014 deaths Government ministers of Qatar Qatari art collectors