Saud bin Muhammed Al Thani
Saud bin Muhammad bin Ali bin Abdullah bin Jassim bin Muhammed Al Thani (28 February 1966 – 9 November 2014)[1][2] was a Qatari prince[3] who served as minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage.
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By the turn of the 21st century, Shaikh Sa’ud had established an international reputation as an avid art collector, both for his own collection as well as those of several state-owned museums he oversaw in Qatar.[4]
Cares
As Minister of Culture, Arts, and Heritage[5] from 1997, he was entrusted with creating the collections to fill an ambitious program of world-class museums in Qatar, including a Museum of Islamic Art a combined Qatar National Library and Natural History Museum, a Museum of Photography,[6] and a Museum of Traditional Clothes & Textiles.[7][8] He was dismissed from his post in 2005.[4] He collected Leica APO-Telyt-R 1:5.6/1600mm lens,[9] furniture, vintage cars, natural history, jewellery, even bicycles, but it was sometimes unclear if the collections he had assembled belonged to him or to Qatar.[2]
Al Thani founded the Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation (AWWP), a private conservation and endangered species breeding center in Qatar, which focuses on breeding and preservation of rare bird species, particularly the Spix's macaw.[10] Al Wabra is also an important centre for endangered Arabian species such as the sand gazelle and Arabian oryx [11]
The Sheikh also founded the Al-Thani Awards in 2000.[12] It claims to be the biggest photography competition in the Middle-East with roughly 54,000 entrants in 2010.[13]
He was married to Sheikha Amna bint Ahmad bin Hassan bin Abdualla bin Jassim Althani.
In the chapter "Goldeneye" from the book Travels with Myself (from Tahir Shah), the author narrates a visit to Saud's home and his magnificent art collection.
Saud bin Muhammed Al Thani died in London on 9 November 2014.[2]
Children
- Hamad Bin Saud Bin Muhammed Bin Ali Al Thani
- Sara Bint Saud Bin Muhammed Bin Ali Al Thani
- Moza Bint Saud Bin Muhammed Bin Ali Al Thani
References
- Vitello, Paul (November 17, 2014). "Saud bin Mohammed al-Thani, Big-Spending Art Collector, Is Dead". New York Times. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
- "One of the world's top collectors Sheikh Al-Thani dies suddenly, aged 48". The Art Newspaper. 10 November 2014. Archived from the original on November 11, 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
- "Qatari prince denies poaching". BBC News. 31 March 1999. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
- Riding, Alan (10 March 2005). "Qatar's official art buyer is out of the picture". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
- "Cultural agreement between Qatar, Sudan". Arabic News. 1 June 2003. Archived from the original on August 19, 2005. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
- Death of Sheikh Saud bin Mohammed Al-Thani, aged 48 Posted by Michael Pritchard on November 10, 2014 at 21:00. Accessed 11 November 2014
- "Sheikh Saud's London spending spree". The Art Newspaper. 2004-06-02. Archived from the original on May 24, 2006.
- "Qatari declared world's most active art collector". Daily Star (Lebanon). 2004-07-19.
- World's Most Expensive Camera Lens It was delivered in 2006 on special order from a rich photography aficionado and former Minister of Culture, Sheikh Saud Bin Mohammed Al-Thani of Qatar, at a price of 16 million Hong Kong Dollars - the equivalent of 2,064,500 US dollars Peter Walkenhorst 10-Feb-2015
- "Sheikh goes from collector to conservationist in effort to save the world's rarest parrot". 2009-09-10.
- "The Shiekh Who Talked to the Animals, Eluxe Magazine".
- Al-Thani Awards Archived 2010-12-31 at the Wayback Machine
- "XPRESS photographer snaps up award". Gulf News. 22 January 2010. Retrieved 13 November 2010.