Aldo Deng is a former Sudanese politician and father of several professional basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 players.

A Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 and a member of the Dinka, Deng was elected to the Sudanese parliament in 1967. Between 1967 to 1989, he held positions of provincial governor, deputy speaker, minister of culture, minister of irrigration, minister of transportation, and deputy prime minister.

In 1988, Deng sent his wife and children to Alexandria

Alexandria

Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...

 to avoid the escalating Second Sudanese Civil War

Second Sudanese Civil War

The Second Sudanese Civil War started in 1983, although it was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil War of 1955 to 1972. Although it originated in southern Sudan, the civil war spread to the Nuba mountains and Blue Nile by the end of the 1980s....

. The next year, Omar al-Bashir

Omar al-Bashir

Lieutenant General Omar Hassan Ahmad Al-Bashir is the current President of Sudan and the head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister...

 led a military coup that took control of the government, and Deng was arrested at gunpoint, spending three months in prison. Omar al-Bashir released Deng so that Deng could negotiate with the Sudan People's Liberation Army

Sudan People's Liberation Army

The Sudan People's Liberation Movement is a political party in South Sudan. It was initially founded as a rebel political movement with a military wing known as the Sudan People's Liberation Army estimated at 180,000 soldiers. The SPLM fought in the Second Sudanese Civil War against the Sudanese...

 of southern Sudan, but in 1993, Deng fled to England and claimed political asylum. Shortly afterwards, he travelled to Egypt to collect his family, and they settled in South Norwood

South Norwood

South Norwood is an urban town and in south London, England, in the London Borough of Croydon. It is a suburban development 7.8 miles south-east of Charing Cross. South Norwood is an electoral with a resident population in 2001 of just over 14,000...

, London. He has since organized several charities to support women, children, and schools in Sudan. After the end of the civil war in 2005 and the independence of South Sudan

South Sudan

South Sudan , officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country located in the Sahel region of northeastern Africa. It is also part of the North Africa UN sub-region. Its current capital is Juba, which is also its largest city; the capital city is planned to be moved to the more...

 in 2011, he returned to serve on the committee that wrote the new country's constitution.

Deng is the father of 16 children, several of whom have become notable for their basketball prowess. Son Luol Deng

Luol Deng

Luol Deng is a South Sudanese-British professional basketball player for the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls and the Great Britain national basketball team. He plays the small forward position.-Early life:...

 attended Duke University

Duke University

Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...

 currently plays for the Chicago Bulls

Chicago Bulls

The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...

 of the National Basketball Association

National Basketball Association

The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

; sons Ajou Deng

Ajou Deng

Ajou Ajou Deng is a British-South Sudanese professional basketball player. He is the son of Aldo Deng, a former Sudanese politician and is the brother of Luol Deng, an NBA player who is also his teammate on Great Britain's national team....

 and Deng Deng have played in the British Basketball League

British Basketball League

The British Basketball League, often abbreviated to the BBL, is the premier men's professional basketball league in the United Kingdom. The BBL runs two knockout competitions alongside the league championship; the BBL Cup and the BBL Trophy....

; and daughter Arek Deng played for the University of Delaware

University of Delaware

The university is organized into seven colleges:* College of Agriculture and Natural Resources* College of Arts and Sciences* Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics* College of Earth, Ocean and Environment* College of Education and Human Development...

.