Ahmad Toukan Explained

Ahmad Tuqan
Order:	Prime Minister of Jordan
Term Start:	26 September 1970
Term End:	28 October 1970
Predecessor:	Mohammad Daoud Al-Abbasi
Successor:	Wasfi al-Tal
Birth Date:	15 August 1903
Birth Place:	Nablus, Beirut vilayet, Ottoman Empire
Death Place:	Amman, Jordan
Party:	Independent

Ahmad Toukan (Arabic: أحمد طوقان|Aḥmad Ṭūqān; 15 August 1903 – 5 January 1981^[1]) was a Jordanian political leader of Palestinian descent. He was briefly the 20th Prime Minister of Jordan from 26 September 1970 to 28 October 1970, during a crackdown that drove the PLO guerillas out of Jordan.^[2]

Life

Tuqan was born in Nablus, then part of the Ottoman Empire. He was the eldest brother of Ibrahim Touqan and Fadwa Touqan, both of whom were poets.

He died in Jordan on 5 January 1981, aged 77, after a prolonged illness.^[1] The Ahmad Toukan School in Amman is named in his honor.

Education and career

• BSc Engineering Sciences, American University of Beirut, 1925.
• MSc Physics, University of Oxford, 1929.

Toukan occupied the following high-ranking positions:

• UNESCO Expert and UNRWA Deputy Head of Education (1954–1961)
• Education Expert at the International Bank for Reconstruction & Development (1962–1966)
• Minister (including Foreign Minister, Minister of State and Deputy Prime Minister during the years 1950–1970)
• Prime Minister in 1970
• Chief of the Royal Hashemite Court of Jordan in 1972
• Chairman of University of Jordan's Board of Trustees in 1972.

See also

• List of prime ministers of Jordan

External links

• Jordan Prime Ministry website

Notes and References

1. News: Ahmed Toukan, 78, Ex-Premier; Led Jordan During '70 Crackdown. The New York Times. 5 January 1981.
2. News: Hess. John L.. 27 September 1970. Hussein Forms a New Regime But Is Assailed by Commandos. The New York Times. .