Noor Hassanali
Noor Mohamed Hassanali, (born August 13, 1918) was the second President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago between 1987-1997. A retired High Court judge, President Hassanali was the first Indo-Trinidadian to hold the office of President and was the first Muslim head of state in the Americas. He was born in the town of San Fernando and was educated at Naparima College. After graduating he taught at Naparima from 1938-1943. In 1943 he travelled to Canada where he read law at the University of Toronto. While in Canada he served as a member of the Canadian Officers Training Corps from 1943 until the end of the war in 1945. He was called to the bar at Gray's Inn in London in 1948.
Noor Hassanali worked as a lawyer in private practice from 1948-1953 when he was appointed as a Magistrate. In 1960 he was appointed Senior Magistrate and later that year was appointed Senior Crown Counsel in Attorney General's Chambers. In 1965 he was appointed Assistant Solicitor General and the following year he was appointed Judge of the High Court. In 1978 he was appointed to the Court of Appeal and retired on April 14, 1985. He was elected President in 1987 following elections which brought the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) to government. Although the office of President was largely ceremonial (similar to that of Governor General before the country became a republic) he was such a popular national figure that he was re-elected in 1992 by the People's National Movement (PNM) administration.
He is married to the former Zalayhar Mohammed and has two children, Khalid and Amena Hassanali-Sutton. Together with his brothers, Noor Hassanali was an avid and skillful footballer, playing both for Naparima College and for his club Spitfire. In 2003 he published a book of his speeches entitled Teaching Words in conjunction with the Naps Charitable Foundation. His brother, Fyzul Hassanali has written two books on cricket. His cousins include Manny Ramjohn who was an Olympic long-distance runner, and Dr. Jean Ramjohn-Richards, First Lady of Trinidad and Tobago and wife of its fourth President, Professor George Maxwell Richards.
Hassanali succeeded Ellis Clarke (1976-1987) and was succeeded by Arthur N.R. Robinson (President 1997-2003).
References
- Biography from Nalis.
- Biographical summary from Nalis.
- Noor Hassanali: Trinidad's Living Legend - Nancy Graydon, Border Lines, University of Toronto; Fall 2003.
- Hassanalis 50th Aniversary - Angela Pidduck