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King Faisal I of Iraq

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Monarch

The Resume

    (May 20, 1885-September 8, 1933)
    Born in Mecca, Saudi Arabia
    Birth name was Faisal bin Hussein bin Ali al-Hashimi
    Son of Hussein bin Ali, Grand Sharif of Mecca
    Represented Jeddah in the Ottoman parliament (1913-16)
    Led an Arab delegation to the Paris Peace Conference after World War I (1919)
    King of Iraq (1921-33)

Why he might be annoying:

    He was briefly declared King of Greater Syria (March 8-July 24, 1920), but was driven from the throne when the French took control of the area.
    He had no connection to Iraq, but was placed on the throne by the British who hoped he would be a compliant figurehead while they ran things from behind the scenes.
    He became increasingly autocratic the longer he remained in power.
    He tried without success to unite Iraq, Syria and Jordan into a pan-Arabian kingdom.
    He was a compulsive chain smoker.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He led a 6,000-man Arab army during World War I that defeated forces of the Ottoman Empire at Medina and Damascus.
    The British ‘high commissioners’ for Iraq kept complaining about his ‘intractability.’ (Approximate translation: ‘That king we put on the throne is actually trying to run the country.’)
    He included representative of Iraq’s various ethnic and religious groups in the government.
    He tried to prevent conflicts between Iraq’s Shia and Sunni populations.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 9 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 59 Votes: 42.37% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 20 Votes: 20.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 15 Votes: 53.33% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 36 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 18 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying