Hume Horan
Encyclopedia
Hume Alexander Horan was an American
diplomat and ambassador to five countries, who has been described as "perhaps the most accomplished Arabic
linguist to serve in the U.S. Foreign Service."
. His mother came from a well-to-do family; her grandfather served as a diplomat in President Abraham Lincoln
's administration, her own father had been the mayor of Georgetown
, and Stephen Vincent Benét
was a cousin. Entezam was an Iranian
diplomat. Horan's parents divorced just three years after his birth (though they had been married for over a decade), and Margaret Hume subsequently married a newspaperman named Harold Horan. The family then moved to Argentina
. Entezam went on to become the Iranian Foreign Minister and head of National Iranian Oil Company
before passing away in 1985.
Horan was sent by his parents to a boarding school in Rhode Island
named Portsmouth Priory, and as an adolescent at an all-boys school he detested it. Horan was soon thrown out and sent to study at the St. Andrew's School in Delaware
, which he found much more enjoyable.
In 1954 Hume Horan joined the U.S. Army
, leaving two years later to study at Harvard College
. In 1960 he graduated from Harvard with a degree in American History and promptly joined the U.S. Foreign Service, though he came back to Harvard to earn his M.A. in 1963 at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, during which time he studied Arabic under the British orientalist
Sir Hamilton A. R. Gibb.
; his first requested assignment was to a post in Baghdad
, a rather unusual choice at the time.
in 2003. During this time he traveled across Iraq with little security, and was to meet Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani
before a protest in Najaf
by Muqtada al-Sadr
prevented it. He was referred to by CPA head L. Paul Bremer
as his "pet Bedouin," and was rewarded for his work with the Distinguished Public Service Award by the Department of Defense
. He died at Inova Fairfax Hospital
in 2004 after battling prostate cancer
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
diplomat and ambassador to five countries, who has been described as "perhaps the most accomplished Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
linguist to serve in the U.S. Foreign Service."
Early life
Horan was born to Margaret Robinson Hume and Abdollah Entezam in 1934 in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. His mother came from a well-to-do family; her grandfather served as a diplomat in President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
's administration, her own father had been the mayor of Georgetown
Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
Georgetown is a neighborhood located in northwest Washington, D.C., situated along the Potomac River. Founded in 1751, the port of Georgetown predated the establishment of the federal district and the City of Washington by 40 years...
, and Stephen Vincent Benét
Stephen Vincent Benét
Stephen Vincent Benét was an American author, poet, short story writer, and novelist. Benét is best known for his book-length narrative poem of the American Civil War, John Brown's Body , for which he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1929, and for two short stories, "The Devil and Daniel Webster" and "By...
was a cousin. Entezam was an Iranian
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
diplomat. Horan's parents divorced just three years after his birth (though they had been married for over a decade), and Margaret Hume subsequently married a newspaperman named Harold Horan. The family then moved to Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. Entezam went on to become the Iranian Foreign Minister and head of National Iranian Oil Company
National Iranian Oil Company
The National Iranian Oil Company , a government-owned corporation under the direction of the Ministry of Petroleum of Iran, is an oil and natural gas producer and distributor headquartered in Tehran. It was established in 1948...
before passing away in 1985.
Horan was sent by his parents to a boarding school in Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
named Portsmouth Priory, and as an adolescent at an all-boys school he detested it. Horan was soon thrown out and sent to study at the St. Andrew's School in Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
, which he found much more enjoyable.
In 1954 Hume Horan joined the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
, leaving two years later to study at Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
. In 1960 he graduated from Harvard with a degree in American History and promptly joined the U.S. Foreign Service, though he came back to Harvard to earn his M.A. in 1963 at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, during which time he studied Arabic under the British orientalist
Oriental studies
Oriental studies is the academic field of study that embraces Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology; in recent years the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Asian studies and Middle Eastern studies...
Sir Hamilton A. R. Gibb.
Diplomatic career
Horan's diplomatic career spanned the Greater Middle EastGreater Middle East
The Greater Middle East is a political term coined by the Bush administration to group together together various countries, pertaining to the Muslim world, specifically Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Various Central Asian countries are sometimes also included. Some speakers may use the...
; his first requested assignment was to a post in Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
, a rather unusual choice at the time.
List of posts
- 1966-1970 LibyanLibyaLibya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
desk officer - 1970-1972 Political officer in AmmanAmmanAmman is the capital of Jordan. It is the country's political, cultural and commercial centre and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The Greater Amman area has a population of 2,842,629 as of 2010. The population of Amman is expected to jump from 2.8 million to almost...
, JordanJordanJordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing... - 1972-1977 Deputy chief of mission in JeddahJeddahJeddah, Jiddah, Jidda, or Jedda is a city located on the coast of the Red Sea and is the major urban center of western Saudi Arabia. It is the largest city in Makkah Province, the largest sea port on the Red Sea, and the second largest city in Saudi Arabia after the capital city, Riyadh. The...
, Saudi Arabia - 1980-1983 Ambassador to the Republic of CameroonCameroonCameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
and non-resident ambassador to Equatorial GuineaUnited States Ambassador to Equatorial GuineaThe United States has maintained diplomatic ties to Equatorial Guinea since independence in 1968. Until 1981, US ambassadors served as the contacts to other African countries simultaneously rather than have a separate person just for Equatorial Guinea.-History:... - 1983- Ambassador to SudanSudanSudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
- 1987 Diplomat-in-residence at Georgetown UniversityGeorgetown UniversityGeorgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
- 1987–1988 Ambassador to Saudi Arabia (ended by order from King Fahd)
- 1992- Ambassador to Ivory Coast
- Diplomat-in-residence at Howard UniversityHoward UniversityHoward University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...
- (-1998) Director of African training program at the Foreign Service InstituteForeign Service InstituteThe Foreign Service Institute is the United States Federal Government's primary training institution for employees of the U.S. foreign affairs community, preparing American diplomats and other professionals to advance U.S. foreign affairs interests overseas and in Washington...
Later life
Following the American-led invasion of Iraq, Horan worked for six months as a senior counselor on tribal and religious issues for the Coalition Provisional AuthorityCoalition Provisional Authority
The Coalition Provisional Authority was established as a transitional government following the invasion of Iraq by the United States and its allies, members of the Multi-National Force – Iraq which was formed to oust the government of Saddam Hussein in 2003...
in 2003. During this time he traveled across Iraq with little security, and was to meet Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani
Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Husayni al-Sistani is the highest-ranking Twelver Shia marja in Iraq and the leader of the Hawza of Najaf.-Early life:Sistani was born in Mashhad, Iran, to a family of religious scholars who traced their roots to Isfahan...
before a protest in Najaf
Najaf
Najaf is a city in Iraq about 160 km south of Baghdad. Its estimated population in 2008 is 560,000 people. It is the capital of Najaf Governorate...
by Muqtada al-Sadr
Muqtada al-Sadr
Sayyid Muqtadā al-Ṣadr is an Iraqi Islamic political leader.Along with Ali al-Sistani and Ammar al-Hakim of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, Sadr is one of the most influential religious and political figures in the country not holding any official title in the Iraqi government.-Titles:He is...
prevented it. He was referred to by CPA head L. Paul Bremer
L. Paul Bremer
Lewis Paul "Jerry" Bremer III is an American diplomat. He is most notable for being the U.S. Administrator to Iraq charged with overseeing the country's occupation after the 2003 invasion. In his role as head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, he reported primarily to the U.S. Secretary of...
as his "pet Bedouin," and was rewarded for his work with the Distinguished Public Service Award by the Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
. He died at Inova Fairfax Hospital
Inova Fairfax Hospital
Inova Fairfax Hospital is the largest hospital in the Washington D.C. area. Located in Fairfax County, Virginia, Inova Fairfax Hospital is the flagship hospital of Inova Health System, one of the largest employers in Fairfax County...
in 2004 after battling prostate cancer
Prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
.
Personal life
Horan's first wife was Nancy Reinert Horan, and they had two sons and a daughter. After a divorce he remarried Lori Shoemaker, who gave birth to a son and daughter.External links
- Appreciation: Hume Horan from the American Foreign Service AssociationAmerican Foreign Service AssociationThe American Foreign Service Association is the professional association certified by the United States Department of State, the Commercial Service, Foreign Agricultural Service, and U.S. Agency for International Development to represent members of the United States Foreign Service. AFSA's history...