Humayun Rasheed Choudhury | |
---|---|
হুমায়ূন রশীদ চৌধুরী | |
President of the United Nations General Assembly | |
In office 1986–1987 |
|
Preceded by | Jaime de Piniés |
Succeeded by | Peter Florin |
Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
In office 1984–1985 |
|
Preceded by | A R Shamsud Doha |
Succeeded by | Anisul Islam Mahmud |
Personal details | |
Born |
Sylhet, British Raj, (now Bangladesh) |
11 November 1928
Died | 10 July 2001 Dhaka, Bangladesh |
(aged 72)
Children | Nasrine R Karim |
Humayun Rasheed Choudhury (11 November 1928 – 10 July 2001) was a Bengali career diplomat and Speaker of the Bangladesh National Parliament from 1996 to 2001. He was elected president of the 41st session of the UN General Assembly in 1986.
Choudhury was born in Sylhet in the British Raj on 11 November 1928. He was the eldest son of Abdur Rasheed Choudhury and Begum Serajunessa Choudhury. His father was a Member of the Indian Provincial Assembly (Assam) and later to become a Member of the Central Legislative Assembly in Delhi. His mother was elected a Member of Pakistan National Assembly.
Chowdhury studied in St. Edmund's College in Shillong. He graduated from Aligarh Muslim University in 1947. He then studied for the English Bar and became a member of the Inner Temple in London. He obtained a diploma in International Affairs from the London Institute of World Affairs. He later graduated from the The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Massachusetts, United States.
Choudhury joined the Pakistan Foreign Service in 1953. During his diplomatic career with Pakistan, he held various assignments in Rome, Baghdad, Paris, Lisbon, Jakarta and New Delhi. During the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, he defected to the Provisional Government of Bangladesh. He negotiated the recognition of Bangladesh by over 40 countries. On Victory Day, 1971, he addressed the Indian parliament on behalf of the Bangladeshi people. He became the first Bangladeshi Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany in 1972, with concurrent accreditation to Switzerland, Austria and the Holy See. He was also the first Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). In 1975, Choudhury sheltered Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana at his residence in Bonn after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.