Shri Mohammad Hamid Ansari, was born to Shri Mohammad Abdul Aziz Ansari and Smt. Aasiya Begum on April 1, 1937. An Indian diplomat, politician, writer and the Vice President of India, Shri Ansari entered the Indian Foreign Service in 1961, where he served for nearly four decades. After postings to several countries over some 15 years (Iraq, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Belgium), Shri Ansari was named Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (1976–79). He also served as Ambassador to Afghanistan (1989–90), Iran (1990–92), and Saudi Arabia (1995–99), as well as High Commissioner to Australia (1985–89) and permanent representative to the United Nations (1993–95). In between those foreign postings, he was the chief of protocol for the Indian government in 1980–85.
Upon his retirement from the Foreign Service, Shri Ansari was named to academic positions, including vice chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University (2000–02) and visiting professor at two New Delhi schools—Jawaharlal Nehru University (1999–2000) and Jamia Millia Islamia (2003–05). He also worked for a private think tank and served on several government commissions and committees.
Shri Ansari became the Vice President of India on 11th August, 2007 and was re-elected as Vice President of India on 11th August, 2012.
With his many years of diplomatic postings in the Middle East, Shri Ansari developed a reputation as a scholar of that region. He wrote in particular on the Palestinian issue. He is the author of ‘Travelling Through Conflict: Essays on the Politics of West Asia’ (2008) and the editor of ‘Iran Today: Twenty Five Years After the Islamic Revolution’ (2005).Shri Ansari was awarded with Padmashree in 1984.
