Mansour bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

Prince Mansour was born in Qasr Al Hukm, Riyadh,{{cite news|title="قصر الحكم" يحتفظ بأجمل الذكريات لأفراد الأسرة ... - جريدة الرياض|url=http://www.alriyadh.com/251317|access-date=26 October 2020|work=Al Riyadh|date=23 May 2007|language=ar}} in 1921. He is widely believed to be the ninth son of King Abdulaziz,{{cite journal|author=Nabil Mouline|pages=1–22|title=Power and generational transition in Saudi Arabia|journal=Critique Internationale|doi=10.3917/crii.046.0125|date=April–June 2012|volume=46}} but William A. Eddy argues that Prince Mansour is the sixth son of Abdulaziz. His mother was an Armenian woman, Shahida (died 1938),{{cite book|author=Leslie McLoughlin|title=Ibn Saud: Founder of A Kingdom

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_n2uCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA239|year=1993|location=New York|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-1-349-22578-1

|pages=144,239}}{{cite web|title=File 11/44 Leading Personalities in Iraq, Iran & Saudi Arabia' [39r] (77/96), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers|date=13 January 1948|url=https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100061134244.0x00004e

|publisher=Qatar Digital Library|access-date=19 August 2023}} who was reportedly the favorite wife of King Abdulaziz.{{cite book|author=Joseph A. Kechichian|author-link=Joseph A. Kechichian|year=2001|title=Succession In Saudi Arabia|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=79Fs5bLPgBYC&pg=PA9|isbn=978-0-312-23880-3|page=9|location=New York}} She was of Christian origin. Prince Mansour's full siblings were Prince Mishaal, Prince Mutaib, and Princess Qumash.{{cite web|title=Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques performs funeral prayer on the soul of Princess Gumash bint Abdulaziz|date=27 September 2011|work=Riyadh Municipality|access-date=12 August 2012|url=http://www.alriyadh.gov.sa/en/news/Pages/news8273.aspx}}{{cite news|title=The wise leadership dispatch cables of condolences|work=Arab Today|url=https://www.arabstoday.net/en/39/the-wise-leadership-dispatch-cables-of-condolences|access-date=10 October 2020|date=28 September 2011}}

At age seven Prince Mansour's education began with a private tutor, and he studied Quran and Arabic.{{cite thesis|author=Alexander Blay Bligh|title=Succession to the throne in Saudi Arabia. Court Politics in the Twentieth Century|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/303101806

|location=Columbia University|pages=127–129|year=1981|degree=PhD|id={{ProQuest|303101806}}}} Then he was sent to the Saudi Institute in Mecca for further education where he received high school-level education on religion, mathematics and geography.

Prince Mansour's first government post was the supervision of the royal palaces in Riyadh which he was appointed in 1938. In 1940 he was made minister of war.{{cite book|author=C. H. H. Owen|title=The Naval Miscellany|volume=VI|page=433|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oxEIEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA433|year=2020|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-00-034082-2|location=London; New York

|editor=Michael Duffy|chapter=On royal duty: HMS Aurora's report of proceedings 1945|editor-link=Michael Duffy (historian)}} In 1942 he participated in King Abdulaziz's meeting with the British ambassador in Riyadh. Prince Mansour was also the emir of Murabba Palace in 1943.{{cite magazine|title=The King of Arabia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MU4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA71|date=31 May 1943|magazine=Life|page=72|issn=0024-3019}} He officially visited Cairo when King Abdulaziz sent him there to support the Indian Muslim officers and men just before the Battle of El Alamein.{{cite book|author=George Kheirallah|title=Arabia Reborn|year=1952|publisher=University of New Mexico Press|page=254

|location=Albuquerque, NM|isbn=9781258502010}} Prince Mansour also acted as an aide to Prince Faisal during the latter's post of viceroy of Hijaz.{{cite thesis|author=Alejandra Galindo Marines|title=The relationship between the ulama and the government in the contemporary Saudi Arabian Kingdom: An interdependent relationship|degree=PhD|url=http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/3989/|location=Durham University|year=2001}}

Then Prince Mansour was appointed minister of defense and aviation by King Abdulaziz on 10 November 1943 when the office was established which had been titled as the ministry of war since 1940.{{cite web|title=Royal Saudi Land Forces History

|work=Global Security|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/gulf/rslf-history.htm|access-date=21 July 2013}} Therefore, he is the first defense minister of Saudi Arabia.{{cite journal|author=Stephanie Cronin|title=Tribes, Coups and Princes: Building a Modern Army in Saudi Arabia|journal=Middle Eastern Studies|year=2013|doi=10.1080/00263206.2012.743892|issue=1|pages=2–28

|volume=49|s2cid=143713882}}

In December 1944 Prince Mansour visited Khartoum where Saudi army personnel were trained in driving and maintenance. He and King's another son, Muhammad, accompanied their father in his meetings with the US President Franklin D. Roosevelt on 14 February 1945{{cite book|author=William A. Eddy|author-link=William A. Eddy|title=FDR meets Ibn Saud|year=2005

|publisher=Selwa Press|url=https://archive.org/stream/FDRMEETSIBNSAUD/FDR%20MEETS%20IBN%20SAUD_djvu.txt|location=Vista}}{{cite journal

|author=Thomas W. Lippman|title=The Day FDR Met Saudi Arabia's Ibn Saud|journal=The Link|date=April–May 2005|volume=38|issue=2|pages=1–12

|url=http://www.hlinstruments.com/Worldpeace_Forum/Iraq-Moslems-War/AMEU-vol38_issue2_2005-FDR-KingSaud.pdf}} and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Egypt on 17 February 1945.{{cite journal|title=Riyadh. The capital of monotheism|journal=Business and Finance Group|url=http://www.bfg-global.com/pdfnw/pdf/eng/1-ensalman.pdf|archive-date=14 October 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091014223725/http://www.bfg-global.com/pdfnw/pdf/eng/1-ensalman.pdf}}

Prince Mansour asked the British to reorganize the Saudi armed forces in November 1944.{{cite thesis|title=Anglo-American relations in Saudi Arabia, 1941-1945: a study of a trying relationship|location=London School of Economics|author=Matthew Hinds|year=2012|degree=PhD|page=167

|url=http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/593/}} As a result of this request the first Saudi military personnel were sent to the United Kingdom to receive aviation training at several institutions, including the Training University Air Service, near Southampton, and the Academy of Aviation in Perth, Scotland.{{cite thesis|author=Haya Saleh Alhargan|title=Anglo-Saudi Cultural Relations: Challenges and Opportunities in the Context of Bilateral Ties, 1950-2010|url=https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?did=256&uin=uk.bl.ethos.677228|location=King's College London|page=75|degree=PhD|year=2015}} Prince Mansour visited the latter group. He also officially visited both the United Kingdom and the United States as a guest of these governments, and his visits were concerned with arms deals.{{cite thesis|author=Abdullah F. Alrebh|title=The public presentation of authority in Saudi Arabia during the 20th century: A discursive analysis of The London Times and The New York Times|year=2014|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1641132379|location=Michigan State University

|degree=PhD|id={{ProQuest|1641132379}}}}

Prince Mansour also headed the Saudi Arabian Airlines when he was serving as defense minister. His term as defense minister lasted until his death in 1951, and he was replaced by his full brother Prince Mishaal who had been his deputy at the ministry.

Prince Mansour was married and had two children, Talal and Muhdi.{{cite web|title=Family Tree of Mansur bin Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud|url=http://www.datarabia.com/royals/famtree.do?id=176546|work=Datarabia|access-date=10 August 2012}} Prince Talal (1950—2023) was raised by his uncle Prince Mutaib following the death of his father.{{cite book|author=Sharaf Sabri|title=The House of Saud in Commerce: A Study of Royal Entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=51Bb8Ix7xw8C&pg=PA151|location=New Delhi

|year=2001|publisher=I.S. Publications|isbn=978-81-901254-0-6|page=151}}{{cite news|title=Saudi Royal Court announces the passing of Prince Talal bin Mansour bin Abdulaziz|url=https://www.nna-leb.gov.lb/en/regional/624395/saudi-royal-court-announces-the-passing-of-prince |access-date=3 July 2023|work=NNA|date=2 July 2023}} Prince Mutaib's daughter, Princess Nouf, married Prince Talal who became a member of Allegiance Council in December 2007.{{cite web|author=Simon Handerson|title=After King Abdullah|access-date=9 August 2020|format=Policy paper|url=https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/after-king-abdullah-succession-saudi-arabia|work=The Washington Institute for Near East Policy|year=2009}} Prince Mansour's daughter, Mudhi, published a book entitled Al Hijar Wa Natayjiha Fi 'Asir Al Malik 'Abdul'Aziz in 1993.{{cite thesis|author=Talal Sha'yfan Muslat Al Azma|title=The role of the Ikhwan under 'Abdul'Aziz Al Sa'ud 1916-1934|url=http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/1472/|location=Durham University|degree=PhD|year=1999|page=17}}

Unlike his siblings Prince Mansour was fond of automobiles and machines and spent most of his time in the Royal garage in Riyadh.

Prince Mansour had some health issues and went to India for treatment in June 1943. Prince Muhammad and Abdullah Suleiman, his father's advisor, accompanied him in this visit. He also visited Palestine for health issues in October and in November 1943.

Prince Mansour died of a heart attack in Paris on 2 May 1951.{{cite news|title=Prince Mansour Dies: 29-Year-Old Son of lbn Saud Is Stricken in Paris|access-date=14 September 2020|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/111918210|work=The New York Times|date=3 May 1951|agency=Associated Press|location=Paris|id={{ProQuest|111918210}}}}{{cite journal|page=351|title=Developments of the Quarter: Comment and Chronology|journal=The Middle East Journal|date=Summer 1951|volume=3|issue=3|jstor=4322297}} Concerning the cause of Prince Mansour's death there are two other reports arguing that he died of kidney disease.{{cite web|access-date=14 September 2020|title=Succession in Saudi Arabia|work=Springer|url=https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/bbm%3A978-0-312-29962-0%2F1.pdf|page=176}}

Prince Mansour was buried in Al Adl cemetery in Mecca.{{cite news|title=Al-Adl: One of Makkah's oldest cemeteries|date=18 June 2012

|url=http://saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20120618127307|access-date=15 August 2012|newspaper=Saudi Gazette

|archive-date=28 July 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728183846/http://saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20120618127307}}

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|1= 1. Mansour bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

|2= 2. Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman

|3= 3. Shahida

|4= 4. Abdul Rahman bin Faisal

|5= 5. Sara bint Ahmed Al Sudairi

|8= 8. Faisal bin Turki bin Abdullah Al Saud

|9= 9. Sara bint Mishari bin Abdulrahman bin Hassan Al Saud

|10= 10. Ahmed Al Kabir bin Mohammed bin Turki Al Sudairi

|16= 16. Turki bin Abdullah bin Muhammad

|17= 17. Hia bint Hamad bin Ali Al Faqih Angari Tamimi

|18= 18. Mishari bin Abdulrahman bin Hassan Al Saud

|20= 20. Mohammed bin Turki bin Suleiman Al Sudairi}}

{{Reflist}}

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{{Sons of Ibn Saud}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Saud, Mansour Abdulaziz}}

Category:20th-century Saudi Arabian politicians

Category:1921 births

Category:1951 deaths

Category:Burials at al-Adl cemetery

Category:Defense ministers of Saudi Arabia

Category:Saudi Arabian people of Armenian descent

Category:Sons of Ibn Saud