Lalla Fatima Zahra bint Abdelaziz

Lalla Fatima Zohra
Born13 June 1927
Tangier, Morocco
Died15 September 2003(2003-09-15) (aged 76)
Rabat, Morocco
SpouseMoulay Hassan ben el-Mehdi (m.1949 – div.1972)
IssueSharifa Lalla Oum Kelthoum
Names
Lalla Fatima Zahra bint Abdelaziz bin Hassan al-Alaoui
HouseAlaouite dynasty
FatherAbdelaziz of Morocco
MotherLalla Yasmin al-Alaoui
ReligionIslam

Princess Lalla Fatima Zahra (13 June 1927 – d. 15 September 2003)[1][2] was the daughter of Sultan Abdelaziz of Morocco and his wife, Lalla Yasmin al-Alaoui.

Biography

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Lalla Fatima Zahra was born in Tangier. Her parents are Sultan Abdelaziz of Morocco and his wife Lalla Yasmin al-Alaoui.[3] She was born to a former Sultan of Morocco as her father abdicated in 1908 and took up his residence in Tangier as a pensioner of his successor sultan Moulay Abd al-Hafid.[4] In Tangier Lalla Fatima Zahra went to school at l'École italienne[5] and then pursued high school in the same city at the Collège français where she obtained her baccalauréat.[5]

Patronages

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Lalla Fatima Zahra dedicated her efforts to women's rights in Morocco. In 2001, she dared to break a taboo by speaking publicly about AIDS in Morocco.[6] She chaired a number of organizations and was notably President of:

  • (1969–2003) the National Union of Moroccan Women, appointed by King Hassan II.[7]

She was also Honorary President of:[8]

  • (1971) the Moroccan Family Planning Association;[9]
  • the Moroccan Association for Contemporary Creations (AMCC);
  • the Tangiers Region Association for Cultural Action;
  • (2001) the Tangiers International Music Festival.[10]

Private life

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Aged 16 she was engaged to her future husband,[5] a distant cousin, Moulay Hassan ben el-Mehdi then Caliph of Tetuan.[5] Their wedding took place on June 6, 1949, in Tetuan.[11][12] Her wedding was celebrated in great fanfare in this Spanish occupied city and many Moroccan and Spanish dignitaries were invited.[12] The couple have one daughter:

In 1955, after Mohammed V's return from exile, her husband renewed his allegiance to the King and relinquished his position as Caliph. He was then appointed ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1965, then to Rome from 1965 to 1967. She accompanied her husband during his two mandates as ambassador.

They divorced in 1972.

Honours

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National honours

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  • Grand Officer of the Order of Mehdauia of Tetuan (1949).
  • Dame Grand Cordon of the Order of the Throne.

Foreign honours

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Death and burial

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Lalla Fatima Zahra died on 15 September 2003 in the medical clinic of the Royal palace of Rabat at the age of 76 years old.[6] She was buried in the Moulay Al Hassan mausoleum, located within the grounds of the Royal palace of Rabat.[6]

References

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  1. ^ "Fatima Zohra Al Hassan". geni_family_tree. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  2. ^ MATIN, LE. "En présence de S.M. le Roi Mohammed VI : Obsèques de S.A. la Princesse Lalla Fatima Zohra". Le Matin (in French). Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  3. ^ "Yasmin Alawi". geni_family_tree. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  4. ^  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Abd-el-Aziz IV". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 32.
  5. ^ a b c d Sasson, Albert (2007). Les couturiers du sultan: itinéraire d'une famille juive marocaine : récit (in French). Marsam Editions. p. 62. ISBN 978-9954-21-082-6.
  6. ^ a b c "LALLA FATIMA ZOHRA". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2003-09-23. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  7. ^ UNFM. "Historique". www.unfm.ma (in French). Archived from the original on 2015-02-28. Retrieved 2018-02-24.
  8. ^ "MOROCCO10". www.royalark.net. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
  9. ^ "Les droits à la santé sexuelle au Maroc: le plaidoyer de l' AMPF | Pharmapresse". www.pharmapresse.net. Retrieved 2024-03-02. About AMPF:
    • Non-governmental, non-profit organization, created in 1971 under the Honorary Presidency of Her Highness Princess Lalla Fatima Zahra al Azizia
  10. ^ MATIN, LE (2002-06-21). "2e Festival international de musique de Tanger". Le Matin.ma (in French). Retrieved 2024-03-02.
  11. ^ Limited, Alamy. "La Princesa Lal-la Fatima en su camino a su boda en el califa de Marruecos español en Tetuán, junio de 6. 10 de junio de 1949. (Foto de la prensa asociada Fotografía de stock - Alamy". www.alamy.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-10-21. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  12. ^ a b Boda del Jalifa en Tetuán 1949 - Parte 1, retrieved 2022-10-21
  13. ^ MAP (2013-03-18). "Promouvoir la présence de la femme créatrice". Le Matin.ma (in French). Retrieved 2024-02-14.
  14. ^ ALM (2003-07-17). "S.A. Lalla Fatima Zahra Alaâzizia, Commandeur de la Légion d'Honneur". Aujourd'hui le Maroc (in French). Retrieved 2024-02-15.
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