Yusuf Yasin

Yusuf Yasin was born in Latakia, Syria, in 1888.[1][2] His parents were Fatima bint Abdullah Jamal and Shaikh Mohammad Yasin, and his grandfather was Ali Al Masri, an Egyptian migrated to Syria.[3]

Following religious education in Latakia Yasin completed the University of Jerusalem in 1911.[3]

Yasin settled in Saudi Arabia in 1923 or in 1924.[3][4] He intended to work as a teacher for the sons of King Abdulaziz.[4] In 1925 he was instrumental in the establishment of the first weekly paper in Makkah, Umm Al Qura, of which he became the first editor-in-chief.[3] The paper soon functioned as the official gazette of the country.[5] In 1926 he was made political secretary of King Abdulaziz and then, appointed the adviser to him in the 1930s.[3] On 29 December 1930 he became a Saudi citizen.[3] Yasin suggested the addition of the phrase al-Sa’udiyyah to the name of the country, Al-Mamlakah al-’Arabiyyah al-Sa’udiyyah, known as Saudi Arabia, in 1932.[2] In 1937 he was part of the Saudi delegation who visited London to take part in the coronation of King George VI.[6]

Yasin signed the extradition treaty between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia on behalf of the latter that established the Saudi–Kuwaiti neutral zone in 1942.[7] He accompanied King Abdulaziz in his meeting with Franklin D. Roosevelt on 14 February 1945.[8] He replaced Fuad Hamza as deputy foreign minister in 1951 when Hamza died.[9] Between 1952 and 1955 Yasin was responsible for the Saudi activities in the Buraimi Oasis and was a member of the Buraimi Arbitration Tribunal.[10][11]

Yasin married twice and had eight children, five sons and three daughters.[3] One of his sons, Anas Yasin, was Saudi ambassador to the United Nations, India and Turkey.[3] Another son, Hassan Yasin, was the adviser to the former Saudi foreign minister Saud bin Faisal Al Saud.[3]

Yusuf Yasin died of cardiac arrest in Dhahran on 19 April 1962.[3]

Joseph A. Kechichian has written a book about Yusuf Yasin, The Arab Nationalist Advisor. Shaykh Yusuf Yassin of Sa’udi Arabia, which will be released in December 2021.[2]