Hussein << hoo SAYN >> I (1935-1999) was king of Jordan from 1952 to 1999. He became known for his efforts to achieve peace between Arabs and Israelis in the Middle East. He also led efforts to develop Jordan’s economy. Hussein was a member of Jordan’s Hashemite dynasty (family of rulers). This family traces its ancestry back to Muhammad, the prophet whose life and teachings form the basis of Islam.
Hussein was born on Nov. 14, 1935, in Amman, the capital city of Jordan (then called Transjordan). In 1951, a Palestinian gunman shot and killed Jordan’s King Abdullah I, Hussein’s grandfather, in Jerusalem. The gunman also fired at Hussein, who was standing near the king. According to Hussein’s autobiography, a bullet bounced off a medal on Hussein’s chest.
Hussein attended Victoria College in Egypt and Harrow School and the Royal Military Academy in England. He married Dina Abdul Hamed in 1955, but the couple divorced the following year. Hussein was married to his second wife, Princess Muna al-Hussein (born Toni Gardiner), from 1961 to 1972. He married Alia Baha Eddin Toukan in 1972, but she died in 1977. Hussein married Queen Noor (born Lisa Halaby) in 1978. Hussein had five sons and six daughters.
Hussein succeeded his father, Talal, as king in 1952. In 1967, Jordan, Egypt, and Syria were defeated by Israel in a six-day war. Israel occupied part of western Jordan, an area in Palestine called the West Bank. As a result, many West Bank Palestinians fled to eastern Jordan. Eventually, Palestinian guerrillas threatened to overthrow Hussein. His stand against them led to a civil war between Jordanian and Palestinian forces in 1970. The Jordanians quickly won the war. In 1974, Hussein gave up Jordan’s authority over the West Bank but continued to give it financial and administrative support. In 1988, he ended Jordan’s support of the West Bank.
In 1990, Iraq invaded and occupied Kuwait. Western and Arab countries formed an alliance and drove Iraq out of Kuwait in 1991. Hussein remained neutral in the conflict. As a result, Jordan’s relations with Arab countries in the alliance became strained. In July 1994, Hussein and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin agreed to end a state of war that had technically existed between Jordan and Israel since 1948. The two nations signed a peace treaty in October 1994. Hussein became a leader in efforts to bring peace to the Middle East. In 1998, for example, though ill with cancer, he helped negotiate an agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
Hussein died on Feb. 7, 1999. Abdullah II, the oldest son of Hussein and Princess Muna al-Hussein, succeeded him.
