Biography - Zaki Anwar Nusseibeh

Zaki Anwar Nusseibeh has been active in Government service and interpreter for the President of the United Arab Emirates since 1968.

Currently in the Ministry of Presidential Affairs as Advisor and continuing his role with HH President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, he previously served in the same capacity the founder of the UAE, HH Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, from 1968 until 2004.
Born in Jerusalem and educated in Jerusalem and the United Kingdom before settling in Abu Dhabi, Zaki Nusseibeh began his career as a journalist in 1967 and worked for the newly established Government of Abu Dhabi Civil Service Department. He then became Director of Information in the Abu Dhabi and, after 1971, the UAE Ministry of Information and Tourism. In this capacity he edited the first English newspaper to be published by the Abu Dhabi Government and participated in establishing its first Arabic newspaper. He also worked as a broadcaster and program producer and helped in developing Abu Dhabi's Broadcasting and media services.

In 1975 Mr. Nusseibeh became the Director of the Press Office for HH the President and subsequently Advisor while continuing his role as the President’s personal interpreter. He was actively involved during that period in the preparation of official State visits and in the formulation of Government briefs.
Mr. Nusseibeh has also served on several public and private bodies dealing with the development of cultural and educational strategies in Abu Dhabi. He was Deputy Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Culture and Heritage Authority since 2006 contributing to the development of some of Abu Dhabi’s major cultural and Art initiatives as well as a member on a number of Boards including the Paris-Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi that he helped in establishing in 2006, the Abu Dhabi Center for Documentation and Research, and the Emirates National School.
Other positions of responsibility included serving as a Trustee of the Sheikh Zayed Award, the International Prize for Arab Fiction (IPAF or Arab Bookers Literary Prize), the London School of Economics LSE Middle East Centre Advisory Board, the London School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS Middle East Centre Advisory Board, and the Alliance Française Foundation in Paris. He is the President of the Alliance Francaise Abu Dhabi, the Abu Dhabi Classical Concert Committee, and the UAE chapter of the International 'Friends of Richard Wagner' society. He helped in founding the Abu Dhabi Classics programme in Abu Dhabi and the Al Ain Music Festival in Al Ain.

Mr. Nusseibeh graduated from the University of Cambridge, UK, with a Masters degree in Economics. He has published translations of Gulf and Arab poetry into several European languages and contributed a series of articles to journals and newspapers. He has received a number of prestigious Arab and International Awards that include:

Decorations and Awards
- Abu Dhabi Award (2007)
- Grand Officer Star of Italian Solidarity ( August 2007)
- Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold for Services to the Republic of Austria(January 2007)
- Commander of the French Order of Arts et Lettres (July 2008)
- Commander of the French Order of the Palmes academiques (February 2007)
- Commander of the British Victorian Order (CVO) (July 1989)
- Commander of the Italian Order of Merit (1983)
- Chevalier of the French Legion d’Honneur (May 2001)
- Officer of the Spanish Order of Merit (July 1999)
- Officer of the French Order of Merit (August 1980)
- Medal of Merit to Culture “Gloria Artis”- Republic of Poland (2010)
- Officer of the Jordanian Order of Independence(1969)
He is married and has three children. His eldest daughter works as a diplomat with the UAE Foreign Ministry as Director of Policy Planning.