Fuad Hamza

Who Was Fuad Hamza?

Fuad Hamza — also known as Fuad Bey Hamza (Arabic: فؤاد حمزة) — was one of the most consequential Arab diplomats of the early twentieth century. Born in 1899, he served as ambassador of Saudi Arabia to France and as King Abdulaziz’s adviser and representative.

He and Hafiz Wahba were the first ambassadors of Saudi Arabia, the former in the United Kingdom and the latter in France. Together, these two men carried the Kingdom’s voice to the world at a time when Saudi Arabia was barely two decades old.

Hamza was not merely a diplomat. He was a writer, a legal scholar, and a state-builder. The historical record has often highlighted non-Saudi advisers such as Hafez Wahba, Yusuf Yasin, Fuad Hamzah, Khalid al-Qurqani and Rushdi Malhas as the core circle who helped King Abdulaziz shape a modern state from the Arabian Peninsula.

Early Life: A Village in Lebanon, A World-Class Education

Born in Abey, Ottoman Empire

Fuad Hamza was born in Abey, Lebanon, in 1899. His full birth name was Fuad Amin Hamza. His birthplace was in the Ottoman Empire — the crumbling empire that still held much of the Arab world under its grip at the time of his birth.

Abey is a mountain village in the Aley District of Mount Lebanon. It sits 22 km from Beirut at an altitude of 800 metres. Fuad Hamza served as the personal adviser of King Abdulaziz, the founder of Saudi Arabia. One of his famous books is Al-Bilad Al-Arabia Al-Saudia.

It is remarkable that a man from so small a village would go on to sign international treaties and represent a kingdom to the courts of Europe.

Education: Beirut and Jerusalem

Hamza was a graduate of the American College of Beirut and the Jerusalem Law School. The American College of Beirut — later renamed the American University of Beirut — was the premier institution of higher learning in the Arab world at the time. His legal training in Jerusalem further sharpened his diplomatic instincts.

Furthermore, Hamza was fluent in English, Turkish, and French. This multilingual ability made him uniquely equipped for international diplomacy at a time when most of the Arab world’s negotiations happened in European capitals.

A Family Rooted in Public Service

His brother, Tawfik, also worked at the Saudi royal court and headed the foreign service for a period. His sibling Nayef Hamza is also on record. The Hamza family, therefore, was deeply woven into the fabric of early Saudi statecraft.

Career: Building Saudi Arabia’s Diplomatic Architecture

Entry Into Saudi Service and Rise to Deputy Foreign Minister

Hamza entered the service of King Abdulaziz in the late 1920s. He was appointed deputy foreign minister in 1930, replacing Abdullah Al Damluji in the post — an Iraqi adviser to King Abdulaziz.

According to historical sources, this office served as a de facto official news agency and spokesperson for Abd al-Aziz’s government. In 1930, it became part of the Foreign Office. It was also dominated by advisors, including Tawfiq Hamza, Fuad’s brother, who now headed the foreign service.

The 1936 Egypt-Saudi Arabia Amity Treaty

One of Hamza’s most enduring achievements came in 1936. As the undersecretary of foreign affairs, Hamza signed an amity treaty on behalf of Saudi Arabia with Egypt in Cairo on 7 May 1936. Through the treaty, Egypt recognized Saudi Arabia as an independent and sovereign state, and diplomatic relations between the two countries began.

This was a landmark moment. Egypt was the cultural and political heart of the Arab world. Its formal recognition of Saudi Arabia’s sovereignty was not symbolic alone. It was geopolitical confirmation that the Kingdom had arrived on the world stage.

The Palestinian Cause

Hamza never forgot his Palestinian roots. Hamza had connections with the supporters of the Palestinian cause in Jerusalem and Transjordan during this period.

The same year, King Abdulaziz named Hamza as his emissary to the Palestine issue, but Hamza could not attend the meetings due to his illness. This appointment showed how much the King trusted him on matters of Arab solidarity and regional politics.

Border Negotiations With Britain

In 1935, Hamza played a direct role in the sensitive territorial disputes between Saudi Arabia and British-controlled territories. A proposal was made by Fuad Bey Hamza, Deputy Minister for Saudi Foreign Affairs, during a meeting at the Foreign Office in July 1935, that the frontier should be that which is shown on the 1918 map, regardless of the map’s inaccuracies.

This episode shows Hamza operating at the highest level of international negotiation. He was dealing directly with the British Foreign Office on questions of borders and sovereignty — issues that would shape the region for decades.

Ambassador to France (1939)

Hamza was named as the Saudi ambassador to France in 1939. This appointment made him one of the two first ambassadors in Saudi Arabia’s history, alongside Hafiz Wahba in London.

The timing was extraordinary. Europe was on the brink of the Second World War. Representing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Paris at such a moment required not only diplomatic skill but also courage and geopolitical foresight.

Ambassador to Turkey and the United States

Hamza’s diplomatic career did not end in France. He also served as the inaugural Saudi ambassador to Turkey from 1943. Following World War II, Hamza was appointed Saudi envoy to the United States.

These postings trace a remarkable arc. From the courts of Europe to the corridors of Washington, Hamza was consistently placed in the Kingdom’s most strategically vital postings.

Final Years: Deputy Minister Until Death

He worked at the Foreign Ministry of Saudi Arabia as deputy minister until he died in 1951. Yusuf Yasin replaced Fuad Hamza as deputy foreign minister in 1951 when Hamza died.

Written Legacy: A Chronicler of Arabia

Hamza was not only a diplomat. He was also a prolific writer. He wrote several books on Saudi Arabia, the first of which was published in 1933.

His two most significant works were:

• Qalb Jazirat al-Arab (The Heart of the Arabian Peninsula) — published in Mecca by Al-Maṭbaʿa al-Salafiya in 1933.
• Al-Bilad al-Arabiyya al-Saudiyya (The Country of Saudi Arabia) — published in Mecca by Maṭbaʿat Umm al-Qura in 1937.

During the early 1920s and into the 1930s, Philby, Rihani, Wahba, and Hamza all published such books in tandem with the making and unification of Saudi Arabia. These were not merely academic texts. They were acts of public diplomacy — shaping how the world understood the new Kingdom.

Personal Life and Death

Hamza died on 22 November 1952 in Beirut of heart failure. He died having served Saudi Arabia faithfully for over two decades — across multiple continents, through world wars, and through the birth of the modern Middle East.

His death in Beirut — the city near his birthplace of Abey — brought his journey full circle.

Historical Significance: A Pioneer Among Pioneers

Fuad Hamza belongs to a rare category of historical figures. He was a Palestinian who helped build one of the Arab world’s most powerful states. He was a Lebanese-born legal scholar who signed international treaties on behalf of a kingdom that was still finding its place in the world.

King Abdulaziz’s far-sighted approach saw him invest in schools and missions abroad, seek capable aides wherever he could find them, and entrust them with sensitive responsibilities despite scarce resources. Fuad Hamza was perhaps the finest embodiment of that approach.