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Born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, he was the only child of Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan III and his French-born third wife, the former Andrée Joséphine Carron. He received his early education in Lausanne, Switzerland, before graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 1954 from Harvard College.[1] At Harvard, he lived in Eliot House with Paul Matisse, grandson of French artist Henri Matisse, with future Paris Review founders George Plimpton and John Train, and with Stephen Joyce, grandson of Irish writer James Joyce.[2] Along with Plimpton, he was an editor for the Harvard Lampoon.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadruddin Aga Khan, stated that it was a privilege for him to attend the conference. The presence of his office on what he termed “This historic occasion” testified to the close and productive cooperation which had always existed between the Government of the Sudan and UNHCR. He expressed appreciation for the moral, political and financial support which Sudan consistently granted his work for refugees both in the General Assembly and in the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s programme in Geneva.

Mr. Chairman,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I assumed office as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees at the beginning of this year. One of the first tasks to which I had to turn my attention was the problem faced by European governments with regard to the increased number of refugees and asylum-seekers moving into European States. One aspect of this phenomenon has been the fact that, in recent years, the majority of asylum-seekers entering Europe are from non-European countries far away from the region.

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.

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

On a clear day, with binoculars, you can look across lake Geneva from Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan's office to the towers of his seventh century Chateau Bellerive, at least you could until yesterday, when he resigned after 12 years as UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Outside are well-kept lawns, winding paths, splendid great evergreens. It all seems a million miles away from the squalor and misery one associates with the very word refugee.

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?

Statement by Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, to the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly, 15 November 1976
By Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan | 15 November 1976

Mr. Chairman,

As I report to the Committee this year, UNHCR completes a quarter century of service to those worst served by the antagonisms and intolerance of our age.

Verbatim record of Statement of Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, to UNHCR headquarters staff, 24 January 1977
By Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan | 24 January 1977

Statement by Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), 27 July 1977
By Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan | 27 July 1977

Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Delegates.

Opening Statement by Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, to the Sub-Committee of the Whole on International Protection, 3 October 1977
By Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan | 03 October 1977

Mr. Chairman,

Opening Statement by Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, to the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Programme, twenty-eighth session, Geneva, 4 October 1977
By Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan | 04 October 1977

Award Statement by Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, on the occasion of the award of the Nansen Medal for 1977 to the Malaysian Red Crescent Society, Geneva, 10 October 1977
By Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan | 10 October 1977

According to the auction house, visionaries, and ahead of their time, Prince Sadruddin and Princess Catherine Aga Khan have been the discreet patrons of many major philanthropic projects, aimed at preserving cultural and natural sites, from Egyptian temples to the Alps.

The remarkable private collection of Sadruddin Aga Khan and his wife, will head to auction on October 1, 2020, global auction house Christie’s announced. The couple are the son and daughter-in-law of Aga Khan III, president of the All-India Muslim League during India’s pre-Independence era.

REVERSING THE GRAIN DRAIN
An Address on May 18, 1986 by

PRINCE SADRUDDIN AGA KHAN

at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
Tufts University
Medford, Massachusetts 02155