{{short description|Bangladeshi diplomat and politician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Humayun Rasheed Choudhury | image = File:Humayun Rashid Choudhury Bangladesh.jpg | native_name = {{nobold|হুমায়ূন রশীদ চৌধুরী}} | office = 8th [[Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad]] | term_start = 14 July 1996 | term_end = 10 July 2001 | deputy = [[Mohammad Abdul Hamid]] | predecessor = [[Sheikh Razzak Ali]] | successor = [[Mohammad Abdul Hamid]] | office1 = [[President of the United Nations General Assembly]] | term_start1 = 1986 | term_end1 = 1987 | predecessor1 = [[Jaime de Piniés]] | successor1 = [[Peter Florin]] | office2 = [[Minister of Foreign Affairs (Bangladesh)|Minister of Foreign Affairs]] | term_start2 = 1984 | term_end2 = 1985 | predecessor2 = [[A R Shamsud Doha]] | successor2 = [[Anisul Islam Mahmud]] | office3 = Member of Parliament for [[Sylhet-1]] | term_start3 = 1996 | term_end3 = 2001 | predecessor3 = [[Khandaker Abdul Malik]] | successor3 = [[Saifur Rahman (Bangladeshi politician)|Saifur Rahman]] | term_start4 = 1986 | term_end4 = 1991 | predecessor4 = [[Syed Rafiqul Haque]] | successor4 = [[Khandaker Abdul Malik]] | office5 = Ambassador of Bangladesh to the United States | term_start5 = June 1982 | term_end5 = September 1984 | predecessor5 = [[Tabarak Husain]] | successor5 = [[Abu Zafar Obaidullah]] | mother = [[Begum Serajunnessa Choudhury]] | father = [[Abdur Rasheed Choudhury]] | birth_date = {{birth date|1928|11|11|df=yes}} | birth_place = [[Sylhet]], Assam Province, [[British Raj|British India]] | death_date = {{death date and age|2001|7|10|1928|11|11|df=yes}} | death_place = [[Dhaka]], Bangladesh | resting_place = [[Shah Jalal Dargah|Shah Jalal Dargah Cemetery]] | awards = [[Independence Day Award]] (2018) | party = [[Jatiya Party (Ershad)|Jatiya Party]] (1986-1991)<ref>https://objectstorage.ap-dcc-gazipur-1.oraclecloud15.com/n/axvjbnqprylg/b/V2Ministry/o/office-washington-mofa/2024/12/1c8928735e614a769b39625f5c7d38f3.pdf</ref><ref>https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Choudhury,_Humayun_Rasheed</ref><ref>https://en.prothomalo.com/opinion/remembering-the-iconic-humayun-rasheed-choudhury</ref><br>[[Awami League]] (1996-2000) | alma_mater = [[Fletcher School at Tufts University]] | relatives = [[Faruk Rashid Chowdhury]] (brother) | native_name_lang = bn }} '''Humayun Rasheed Choudhury''' ({{langx|bn|হুমায়ূন রশীদ চৌধুরী}}; 11 November 1928 – 10 July 2001) was a Bangladeshi career diplomat and [[Speaker of the Jatiyo Sangsad|speaker]] of the [[Bangladesh Parliament]] from 1996 to 2001. He was elected president of the 41st session of the [[UN General Assembly]] in 1986.<ref name=bpedia>{{cite web|url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Choudhury,_Humayun_Rasheed|title=Choudhury, Humayun Rasheed|publisher=[[Banglapedia]]: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh|access-date=March 13, 2015|author=Enamul Haq}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/23/world/man-in-the-news-un-enthusiast-at-assembly-helm-humayan-rasheed-choudhury.html|title=Man in the News; U.N. Enthusiast at Assembly Helm: Humayan Rasheed Choudhury|date=1986-09-23|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=2016-04-12}}</ref> He was also [[Foreign Minister of Bangladesh]] and Chair of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Relations. He was awarded the [[Independence Day Award]] posthumously in 2018 by the [[government of Bangladesh]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/country/government-finalised-the-names-16-personalities-nominated-independence-award-2018-1537525|title=16 personalities nominated for Independence Award-2018|date=2018-02-20|work=The Daily Star|access-date=2018-02-20|language=en}}</ref>

==Early life and education== Choudhury was born on 11 November 1928 to a [[Bengalis|Bengali]] political family of hereditary [[Choudhury|Choudhuries]] in [[Sylhet]], erstwhile [[British India]]. Their ancestral home is in [[Shantiganj Upazila|Dargapasha]] in [[Sunamganj District]].<ref name=":0" /> He was the eldest of the seven children of [[Abdur Rasheed Choudhury]] (d. 1944) and [[Begum Serajunnessa Choudhury]] (1910–1974).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://archive.thedailystar.net/magazine/2010/06/04/tribute.htm|title=A Legacy of Love|newspaper=The Daily Star|date=2010-06-25|access-date=2017-12-22}}</ref> Abdur was a member of the [[Assam Legislative Assembly]] and later a member of the [[Central Legislative Assembly]] in Delhi. Serajunessa was elected a member of the [[Pakistan National Assembly]].<ref name=star>{{cite news|url=https://archive.thedailystar.net/2003/07/11/d30711020424.htm|title=Lest we forget Humayun Rasheed Choudhury|work=[[The Daily Star (Bangladesh)|The Daily Star]]|date=July 11, 2003|author=Nasrine R Karim|access-date=March 13, 2015}}</ref>

Choudhury passed the matriculation exam from [[Sylhet Government Pilot High School]]. Later he studied at [[St. Edmund's College, Shillong|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.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Embassy of Bangladesh in Washington DC - Ambassador Humayun Rasheed Chowdhury|url=http://www.bdembassyusa.org/index.php?page=ambassador-humayun-rasheed-chowdhury|access-date=2020-12-16|website=bdembassyusa.org|archive-date=27 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127030750/http://www.bdembassyusa.org/index.php?page=ambassador-humayun-rasheed-chowdhury|url-status=dead}}</ref> He obtained a diploma in international affairs from the London Institute of World Affairs. He later graduated from [[The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy]] in [[Massachusetts]], United States. He gained fluency in Bengali, English, [[Urdu]], French, and Italian, and was conversational in [[Arabic]], Spanish, [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], German, and [[Indonesian language|Indonesian]].

==Career== [[File:Humayun Rashid Choudhury, Kamran Hossain Chowdhury, and others.jpg|thumb|Humayun Rashid Choudhury with [[Kamran Hossain Chowdhury]] and others in 1997]] 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 of Bangladesh|Victory Day, 1971]], he addressed the [[Indian parliament]] on behalf of the Bangladeshi people.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cqAeG75FpE|title=HRC in Bangladesh recognized by India (LISTEN CAREFULLY AT 25 SECOND)|publisher=YouTube|date=14 February 2013}}</ref> 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).<ref name="un" /> In 1975, Choudhury sheltered [[Sheikh Hasina]] and [[Sheikh Rehana]] at his residence in [[Bonn]] after the [[assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Chowdhury|first=Nauman Rasheed|date=2014-08-15|title=August 15: Bangabandhu's daughters|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/august-15-bangabandhus-daughters-37158|access-date=2021-07-28|work=The Daily Star|language=en}}</ref>

In 1976, Choudhury became the first ambassador of Bangladesh to the [[Kingdom of Saudi Arabia]]. He also had concurrent accreditation to [[Jordan]] and [[Oman]]. During this assignment, he represented Bangladesh in the [[Organization of the Islamic Conference]]. He served as the [[Foreign Secretary (Bangladesh)|foreign secretary of Bangladesh]] during 1981–1982. He was appointed ambassador to the United States in June 1982.<ref name=":0" /> As a member or leader of his country's delegations, he attended the [[United Nations General Assembly]] session; the [[Islamic Summit]] Conference held in [[Taif]], Saudi Arabia (1981); the Islamic Foreign Ministers' Conference in Tripoli (1977), Dakar (1978), Fez, Morocco (1979), Islamabad (1980) and Baghdad (1981); the [[North-South Summit]] on International Cooperation and Development held in [[Cancun]], Mexico (1981); Meetings of the Islamic Summit-level Peace Committee to resolve [[Iran–Iraq War|disputes between Iran and Iraq]]; the extraordinary session on [[Afghanistan]] of the Islamic Foreign Ministers in Islamabad (1980); and the extraordinary session on Jerusalem of the Islamic Foreign Ministers held in Amman (1980).<ref name="un">{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/en/ga/president/bios/bio41.shtml|title=Humayun Rasheed Choudhury (Bangladesh) :Elected President of the forty-first session of the General Assembly|publisher=United Nations|access-date=March 13, 2015}}</ref>

He has also led his country's delegations to a number of bilateral meetings, including talks with India on [[Bangladesh-India border|border delineation]], [[Sharing the water of the Ganges|sharing of Ganges waters]], demarcation of the maritime boundary, the South Asia Forum ([[South Asian Regional Co-operation Organisation|South Asian Regional Co-operation]]), [[Bangladesh–Burma border]] demarcation talks, Bangladesh-Saudi Arabia Joint Economic Talks, and others. As chairman of the fourteenth Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers (ICFM XIV), he presided over the Co-ordination Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Islamic Conference while attending the thirty-ninth session of the United Nations General Assembly. He also led the Bangladesh delegation to the Extraordinary Ministerial Meeting of the [[Non-Aligned Movement|Non-Aligned Countries]] on Namibia, held in New Delhi in April 1985, and the Islamic Peace Committee Meeting, held in Jeddah in May 1985. In the 1980s, Choudhury was the [[List of ambassadors of Bangladesh to the United States|Bangladesh Ambassador to the United States]], Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Chair of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Relations.<ref>https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Choudhury,_Humayun_Rasheed</ref><ref>https://www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/longform/367666/in-memoriam-kamran-h-chowdhury</ref> He was a member of the [[Jatiya Party]] led by [[Hussain Muhammad Ershad]]. He was elected member of the National Parliament in 1996 as a nominee of the [[Bangladesh Awami League]] and was elected Speaker of the Parliament.<ref name="bpedia" /> He died in Dhaka due to a heart attack on July 10, 2001.<ref name="bpedia" /> He was buried in the [[Shah Jalal Dargah|Shah Jalal Dargah Cemetery]] in [[Sylhet]].<ref name=News>{{cite news|date=2019-07-10|script-title=bn:হুমায়ুন রশীদ চৌধুরীর মৃত্যুবার্ষিকীতে শ্রদ্ধা নিবেদন|url=https://www.bd-pratidin.com/chayer-desh/2019/07/10/438701|work=Bangladesh Pratidin|language=bn|access-date=2020-09-25}}</ref>

==Awards== * Mahatma Gandhi Peace Prize by the [[College of William and Mary]] in Virginia (1984){{citation needed|date=December 2022}} * [[U Thant Peace Award]]<ref name=un/> * [[Independence Day Award]] (2018)<ref>{{Cite news|date=2018-03-25|title=Take country forward with Liberation War spirit: PM|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/country/bangladesh-prime-minister-sheikh-hasina-hands-over-independence-day-award-2018-1553182|access-date=2023-01-10|work=The Daily Star|agency=UNB|language=en}}</ref>

==Personal life==

Humayun Rashid Choudhury was married to Mehjabeen Choudhury (1931–2018).<ref name=nasrine>{{cite news|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-134484|title=Nasrine Karim passes away|date=16 April 2010|work=The Daily Star}}</ref> They had a daughter, Nasrine R Karim (1949–2010), and a son, Nauman Rasheed Choudhury (1950–2017).<ref name=nasrine/>

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Choudhury, Humayun Rashid}} [[Category:1928 births]] [[Category:2001 deaths]] [[Category:People from Dakshin Sunamganj Upazila]] [[Category:Aligarh Muslim University alumni]] [[Category:Speakers of the Jatiya Sangsad]] [[Category:International Atomic Energy Agency officials]] [[Category:Presidents of the United Nations General Assembly]] [[Category:Permanent representatives of Bangladesh to the United Nations]] [[Category:Ministers of foreign affairs of Bangladesh]] [[Category:The Fletcher School at Tufts University alumni]] [[Category:Ambassadors of Bangladesh to Switzerland]] [[Category:Ambassadors of Bangladesh to Austria]] [[Category:Ambassadors of Bangladesh to the Holy See]] [[Category:Ambassadors of Bangladesh to West Germany]] [[Category:Ambassadors of Bangladesh to Saudi Arabia]] [[Category:Ambassadors of Bangladesh to Jordan]] [[Category:Ambassadors of Bangladesh to Oman]] [[Category:Ambassadors of Bangladesh to the United States]] [[Category:Awami League politicians]] [[Category:Jatiya Party (Ershad) politicians]] [[Category:Foreign secretaries of Bangladesh]] [[Category:Recipients of the Independence Award]] [[Category:3rd Jatiya Sangsad members]] [[Category:4th Jatiya Sangsad members]] [[Category:7th Jatiya Sangsad members]] [[Category:Sylhet Government Alia Madrasah alumni]] [[Category:Provisional Government of Bangladesh]] [[Category:Politicians from Sylhet]] [[Category:Politicians from Sylhet Division]] [[Category:Sylhet Government Pilot High School alumni]]