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Iffat Al-Thunayan

Iffat Mounira bint Mohammad bin Saud Al Thunayan Al Saud
Born 1916
Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
Died 17 February 2000 (aged 84)
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Spouse King Faisal
Issue Prince Mohammed
Prince Bandar
Prince Saud
Prince Turki
Princess Lolowah
Princess Sara
Princess Haifa
Full name
Iffat bint Mohammad Al Thunayan
House House of Saud
Father Mohammad bin Saud Al Thunayan
Mother Asia
Religion Islam
Full name
Iffat bint Mohammad Al Thunayan

Iffat Al Thunayan (Arabic: عفت الثنيان‎‎, 1916 – 17 February 2000), also spelled Effat, was the most prominent wife of King Faisal. She is sometimes called Queen Iffat, Emira Iffat, or Princess Iffat. She is known for her efforts on the improvement of Saudi education. She was the founder of Taif model school and the first girl's college in Saudi Arabia.

Iffat Al Thunayan was part of the Al Thunayan cadet branch of the Al Saud. She was born in Istanbul in 1916.

Iffat's father was Mohammad bin Saud Al Thunayan, who was a military officer in the Ottoman army. He was killed sometime between 1918 and 1923 while fighting in the army. Her mother, Asia, was a Turkish woman, who was of Hungarian or Circassian origin. Iffat had a full-brother, Zaki, and two half-brothers, Kamal and Mozaffar.

Iffat was educated in Istanbul under the care of her aunt— Jawhara bint Abdullah Al Thunayan. Iffat was very poor. She went to school wearing shoes stuffed with paper instead of soles. She attained a teaching degree. Because of the fall of the Ottoman Empire, she and her family returned to Saudi Arabia. In 1925, Iffat's family asked for financial assistance for a Makkah pilgrimage for Iffat.

Her great-grandfather was governor of Riyadh during the 1840s. Her grandfather had been taken to Turkey as a prisoner of the Ottoman Empire following the collapse of the First Saudi State. One of Iffat's half-sisters was married to late Prince Sultan, Laila al Thunayyan. Her paternal uncle, Ahmed Al Thunayan (1889 - 1921), was one of the advisors to Ibn Saud.

In 1931, Prince Faisal met Iffat for the first time while she was undertaking a Makkah pilgrimage with her aunt. Prince Faisal, who served as viceroy of the Hijaz, took Iffat back to Turkey with her aunt. However, there is another report about their meeting for the first time, stating that they first met in Istanbul in 1932 when Prince Faisal visited the city following an official visit to Russia. It follows that he and Iffat went to Jeddah together after this incident. They married in Jeddah in 1932 and lived in Mecca.


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