Wijdan Ali

Princess Wijdan Ali (Arabic: وجدان علي‎‎) (born August 29, 1939 in Baghdad, Iraq) is a Jordanian artist, educator and diplomat. She is the ex-wife of Prince 'Ali bin Naif of Jordan.

She received her B.A. in history from Beirut University College (now Lebanese American University) in 1961, while studying art privately. She received a Ph.D. in Islamic art from the University of London in 1993.

In her art, she develops the traditions of Arabic calligraphy in a modern format and forms part of the contemporary school of Arabic calligraphic painting. Her work, which has won awards in Belgium and France, is found in museums and private collections internationally, including the collections of the British Museum, the Ashmolean Museum, the American National Museum of Women in the Arts and the National Art Gallery, Pakistan. She has participated in the cross cultural cooperation " the Dance of Visions" in Gothenburg Sweden, invited by the Swedish artist Ragnhild Lundén.

Princess Wijdan Ali is founder of the Royal Society of Fine Arts and of the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts. She is also founder and dean of the newly established Faculty of Arts and Design at the University of Jordan.

She was the first woman to enter the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jordan (1962) and also the first woman delegate to represent Jordan at United Nations meetings and the first woman diplomat at the United Nations General Assembly.

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