Birth: NULL/NULL/1912 Death:NULL/NULL/2005
Born in Beit Hanina, Jerusalem, in 1912; moved to the US, where his father lived, at the age of 14 (his mother had died when he was a baby and he was raised so far by his grandmother); received an MA in Economics from New York University; returned to Palestine in 1936 to help his father run the Arab Bank he had established a few years earlier; after the 1948 Nakba, the Bank moved to Amman, where he also became a resident; became Deputy Chairman (1949-74) and later Chairman (since 1974) of the Arab Bank’s Board of Directors, remaining in that post until his death; also served as Chairman of the Palestine National Fund from the founding conference of the PLO in May 1964 until Sept. 1969; was a member of the first PLO Exec. Committee established in Aug. 1964; founded the Abdul Hamid Shoman Foundation (named after his father Abdul Hamid Shoman who had died in 1974) in 1978, with the aim to finance scientific research, support scientists, and sponsor Arab humanistic creativity; served as the foundation’s Chairman until his death; was a founding member of the Geneva-based Welfare Association in 1983; served as member of the Jordanian Senate from 1987-90 and again from 1993-97; was among the Arab businessmen who set up the Jerusalem Development and Investment Company (JEDICO) in Amman in July 1997, with the goal to help finance housing and tourist projects to counter the Judaization of Jerusalem, and was elected its Chairman; also created a prize for intellectuals who contributed to Jerusalem’s Arab heritage; passed away on 5 July 2005 and was buried in the Jordanian Royal Cemetery.
