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{{short description|Bangladeshi diplomat and politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Humayun Rasheed Choudhury
| image = Humayun Rashid Choudhury.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_start4 = 1986
| term_end4 = 1991
| predecessor4 = [[Syed Rafiqul Haque]]
| successor4 = [[Khandaker Abdul Malik]]
| term_start3 = 1996
| term_end3 = 2001
| predecessor3 = [[Khandaker Abdul Malik]]
| successor3 = [[Saifur Rahman (Bangladeshi politician)|Saifur Rahman]]
| 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 = [[File:Independence Award Ribbon.svg|30px]] [[Independence Day Award]] (2018)
| party = [[Awami League]]
| alma_mater = [[Aligarh Muslim University]]<br />[[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 National 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 awarded [[Independence Day Award]] in 2018 posthumously by the [[Government of Bangladesh]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://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=http://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|archive-date=30 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180130164138/http://archive.thedailystar.net/magazine/2010/06/04/tribute.htm|url-status=dead}}</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 [[Pakistan National Assembly]].<ref name=star>{{cite news |url=http://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|archive-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402111715/http://archive.thedailystar.net/2003/07/11/d30711020424.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Choudhury passed the matriculation exam from [[Sylhet Government Pilot High School]]. Later he studied in [[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=www.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 language|French]] and [[Italian language|Italian]], and was conversational in [[Arabic]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[German language|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) | website=[[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, 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. Choudhury was part of the cabinet of President [[Hossain Mohammad Ershad]] and a [[Jatiya Party (Ershad)|Jatiya Party]] Member of Parliament during 1986–1990. 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=http://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 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]]

Humayun Rashid Choudhury - Revision history

imported>Jaunpurzada at 18:21, 23 May 2025