Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.

Mildred F. Schmertz: You founded the Award twenty years ago, and have sustained it without interruption right up to now. In today's architectural world, new ideas and agendas often have a very short life. At the beginning some observers thought that at best, your architectural award program would last about six years. Instead, in two decades it has become and remained the most outstanding in the world, and continues to hold that leadership. What were the goals that led you to establish the Award?

If ever East meets West, it could be said to do so at Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan's 17th-century home, the Château de Bellerive on the shores of Lake Geneva. Flanked by two square towers, the
stone façade of the château with its tiled roof, wooden shutters and arched doors of studded oak is austere but arrestingly beautiful.

While the outside may be simple, the rooms inside are crammed with exotic bibelots, orchids, oriental

While the outside may be simple, the rooms inside are crammed with exotic bibelots, orchids, oriental rugs and textiles. But then Prince Sadruddin is the younger son of Sir Sultan Mohamed Shah, Aga Khan III - the Imam, or leader of the Ismaili Shia Muslims. Their family's bloodline can be traced back to the Prophet.

Pour la troisième année consécutive, la princesse Salimah Aga Khan a fait le voyage à Tahiti, pour rendre visite au village d'enfants dont elle est la marraine. Une action humanitaire qui a vu le jour au moment où sa vie prenait une nouvelle direction.

"Lorsque l'ombre de la nuit, Déchire mon coeur d'enfant, Dans le noir, la solitude qui m'attend, Et pourtant tu est là près de moi, Très chère maman, belle princesse, Ton amour est une caresse, J'ai besoin de toi, oui de toi".

Forty ninth Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, Karim Aga Khan, at 59 years of age, is the spiritual leader of 20 million faithful. His religious mission ties-in with [H]is humanitarian concerns. Considered one of the richest men in the world, [H]e allocates 700 million Francs each year to the Muslim Third World by means of [H]is development network. He also travels regularly to the twenty-five countries in which the Ismailis are spread out, often accompanied by [H]is daughter, Princess Zahra, whose presence symbolizes the new role of the modern woman in the Islamic world.

The spiritual leader of 15 million Ismailis - of which 2500 live in France - has made his 24 year old daughter Zahra his privileged partner. The princess grew up in Paris, was schooled in Switzerland, then obtained her degree in Economic Development in the Third World at Harvard. During her trip to Pakistan with her father, the Aga Khan reserved a comprehensive social action program for her. The man who is called the 'richest man in the world', invests around 140 million dollars (700 million French Francs) in the third world each year.

Just before leaving Aswan to spend the summer in Cannes, Princess Yvonne Aga Khan, wife of the late Aga Khan gave a rare interview to YOUSSEF EL-DEEB

Shortly before his death in 1957, Sultan Mohamed Shah Agha Khan, spiritual leader of the Ismaili sect of Islam, chose as his resting place a solitary sand dune on the West Bank of the Nile at Aswan. Princess Yvonne Agha Khan, known as the Begum, a French national and the Sultan`s third wife, has cared for this tomb ever since, staying at their house nearby for six months of the year and spending the summer at their villa in Cannes.

Shortly before his death in 1957, Sultan Mohamed Shah Agha Khan, spiritual leader of the Ismaili sect of Islam, chose as his resting place a solitary sand dune on the West Bank of the Nile at Aswan. Princess Yvonne Agha Khan, known as the Begum, a French national and the Sultan`s third wife, has cared for this tomb ever since, staying at their house nearby for six months of the year and spending the summer at their villa in Cannes.

The quiet revolutionary
By Akbar S. Ahmed
The (Manchester) Guardian Weekly, August 18, 1991
Picture caption: The Aga Khan: paradox

PERSONAL FILE 1936 Born in Geneva as Prince Karim. Educated at the College du Rosey, Switzerland, and Harvard University 1957 Becomes Aga Khan, Imam of the Ismaili Moslems, on the death of his grandfather, Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan III 1967 Establishes the Aga Khan Foundation 1983 Founds Aga Khan University, Pakistan 1984 Establishes Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development 1990 Named Commander of French Legion d'Honneur for eminent services to humanity'

PRINCE OF DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES

The Aga Khan speaks to William Dawkins and Edward Mortimer

UNESCO Courier May 1991.

Courier: You have been associated with the United Nations system for many years. Did you feel a vocation to serve the UN?

Turgut Ozal is the president of Turkey. Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, a Geneva-based leader of the Ismaili Muslims, a sect scattered from Iran to Pakistan, is the special representative of the secretary general of the United Nations for Humanitarian Affairs relating to issues arising from the Iran-Iraq War. Ozal's statement and the * question-and-answer exchange that follows with Aga Khan took place in Davos, Switzerland, during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.

Fate has some cruel sorrows in its quiver, and the story of Rita Hayworth, who slid from sex goddess to Alzheimer's victim inside of three decades, is one of them. Once, she was never lovelier - that was the name of a movie she did with Fred Astaire. Once, she married an Islamic prince. Once, she slinked through the Argentine as ""Gilda." (Audiences were said to gasp at that first sultry sight of her.) Once, or this was another part of the myth, B-29 flight jockeys decoupaged her image onto the atomic bomb.

Coordinateur pour les Nations Unies de l'aide humanitaire et économique en Afghanistan depuis mai 1988. Consultant spécial et chargé de mission auprès du Secrétaire général de l'Organisation des Nations Unies depuis 1978. Rapporteur de la Commission des droits de l'Homme des Nations Unies sur les questions des personnes déplacées (1981). Haut Commissaire adjoint (1962-1965) puis Haut Commissaire des Nations Unies pour les réfugiés (1965-1977).

Princess Yasmin Aga Khan looks like a movie star and reflects strict religious values, such as honor thy mother and thy father. Perhaps it's her heritage.

H. H. The Aga Khans Interview With Aroon Purie The Editor Of India Today During H.H. The Aga Khans Recently Holy Visit To India.

Q. Your Highness, you are the Imam of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims. It s a hereditary title. Have you ever felt burdened by being so, the 49th hereditary Imam? You are the direct descendent from the Prophet; you became the Imam at the age of 20. Did it ever come up for you where you were a reluctant Imam in any way?

Following the historic agreement signed in Geneva on 14 April 1988 between Afghanistan and Pakistan, on 11 May the UN Secretary General appointed Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan to the position of Co-ordinator for United Nations Humanitarian and Economic Assistance Programmes relating to Afghanistan. Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, who held the post of UN High Commissioner for Refugees from 1966 to the end of 1977, granted this exclusive interview to REFUGEES in September 1988, in which he defined his aims and priorities.

Interview with Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan Co-ordinator for United Nations Humanitarian and Economic Assistance Programmes relating to Afghanistan By Annick Billard (Courtesy Refugees - November 1988) Following the historic agreement signed in Geneva on 14 April 1988 between Afghanistan and Pakistan, on 11 May, the U.N. Secretary General appointed Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan to the position of Co-ordinator for United Nations Humanitarian and Economic Assistance Programmes relating to Afghanistan.