Hamid Ansari Age, Wife, Children, Family, Biography & More

Bio
Full Name	Mohammad Hamid Ansari
Profession	Civil Servant, Diplomat, Politician
Major Designations	1961: Joined the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and served in Indian missions in Baghdad, Rabat, Jeddah and Brussels. 1976-1979: Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates. 1980-1985: Chief of Protocol to Govt. of India. 1985-1989: High Commissioner to Australia. 1989-1990: Ambassador to Afghanistan. 1990-1992: Ambassador to Iran. 1993-1995: Permanent Representative to the UN, New York. 1995-1999: Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Dec 1999-May 2000: Visiting Professor, Centre for West Asian and African Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. 2000-2002: Vice-Chancellor, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh. 2002-2006: Distinguished Fellow, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi. 2003-2005: Visiting Professor, Academy for Third World Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. 2004-2006: Co-Chairman, India-U.K. Round Table. 2004-2006: Member, National Security Advisory Board. 2004-2005: Chairman, Advisory Committee for Oil Diplomacy, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. March 2006-July 2007: Chairman, Fifth Statutory National Commission for Minorities. 11 August 2007 to 10th August 2012: Thirteenth Vice President of India and ex officio Chairman, Rajya Sabha. 11 August 2012: Re-elected as Fourteenth Vice President of India and ex officio Chairman, Rajya Sabha and served till 10 August 2017.
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 168 cm in meters- 1.68 m in Feet Inches- 5’ 6”
Weight (approx.)	in Kilograms- 60 kg in Pounds- 132 lbs
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	White
Personal Life
Date of Birth	1 April 1937
Age (as of 2022)	85 Years
Birthplace	Delhi, British India
Zodiac sign	Aries
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh
College	St. Stephen's College, Delhi University
Educational Qualifications	BA (Hons) MA (Political Science)
Family	Father- Mohammad Abdul Aziz Ansari Mother- Aasiya Begum Brother- Not Known Sister- Not Known
Religion	Islam
Hobbies	Reading, Writing
Books Published	2005: Iran Today: Twenty Five Years After the Islamic Revolution, (ED) 2008: Traveling Through Conflict: Essays on the Politics of West Asia 2013: Teasing Questions: Exploring Disconnects in Contemporary India 2016: Citizen and Society: Selected Writings
Awards/Honours	1984: Padma Shri 2011: Honorary Doctorate for International Relations, Mevlana University Konya, Turkey 2016: Honorary Doctorate, Mohammed V University, Rabat, Morocco 2017: Honorary Doctorate, Yerevan State University, Yerevan, Armenia
Controversies	• In 2006, he courted controversy by criticising comments made by Pope Benedict XVI as anti-Islamic. • He was criticized for the abrupt adjournment of the House on 30 December 2011, when the Rajya Sabha was witnessing discussion on the Jan Lokpal Bill in the wake of the Anna Hazare movement. Around midnight, Ansari came on his seat and the stroke of midnight, he abruptly adjourned the House even though the debate was underway. • He had to face criticisms for not attending the First International Yoga Day on 21 June in 2015. Pranab Mukherjee (the then President of India) held the function at Rashtrapati Bhavan and all ministers took part in it. However, Ansari was the only senior constitutional office-bearer not to take part in Yoga Day. For the past 3 years, Ansari has been skipping it every time. • He attracted controversy for not saluting the national flag when it was hoisted, and the national anthem was being sung at Rajpath on the Republic Day of 2015. Alongside Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, then visiting US President Barack Obama (who was also the Chief Guest at the parade), US First Lady Michelle Obama and Manohar Parrikar (the then Defence Minister of India), Ansari was seen standing at attention. • In July 2022, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia asked Hamid Ansari to clarify whether the claims made by Pakistani journalist Nusrat Mirza that Hamid Ansari, as the Vice-President of India, shared secret information with him were true. A former official of R&AW also claimed that Ansari, during his tenure as the Ambassador to Iran, had compromised a Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) operative. While responding to these accusations, Ansari said that a “litany of falsehood” had been unleashed against him “by the media and by the official spokesperson of the BJP.” [1]The Hindu
Favourites
Sports	Golf, Cricket
Girls, Affairs and More
Marital Status	Married
Wife	Salma Ansari
Children	Sons- 2 Daughter- Nuriya Ansari

Some Lesser Known Facts About Hamid Ansari

• He was born in a Muslim family in Calcutta, British India. Though his family belongs to Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh.

• He is the grand nephew of former Congress President Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari who was also a leader of the Indian Independence Movement.

• After completing his education, he started preparing for the Civil Services and in 1961, he cleared the UPSC Examination and was allotted the Indian Foreign Service (IFS).

• After retiring from foreign service, Ansari served in various academic positions.

• In 2006, he had to quit the membership of Congress Party after the Congress party selected him as its candidate for the vice-presidential elections.

• In 2007, he won the vice-presidential elections by defeating his nearest rival, Najma Heptullah of BJP, with a margin of 233 votes.

• In 2012, he again defeated the BJP nominee Jaswant Singh by 252 votes for the another term as the Vice President of India.

• Ansari is known for his role ensuring relief and compensation for the 2002 Gujarat riots Victims.

• With his several years of diplomatic postings in the Middle East countries, he developed a reputation as a scholar of that region.