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Hanna-Sheikh’s
family can trace its family ancestry back to over 1200 years ago in Mosul
City, capital of Nineva State. Nineva was the capital of the Assyrian
Empire located in the north of present day Iraq.
During
the last quarter of the 19th century, Nadhim’s grandfather
migrated to Amarah in Southern Iraq. Amarah is located 45 minutes by car
north of the Garden of Eden (where the Tigris & Euphrates Rivers meet)
and was then the business hub of present day Iraq.
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Nadhim’s father
Michael and two other Uncles Rafael and Gabriel were born in Amarah in the late
19th century. The families business constituted mainly in
banking, trading, real estate, industry and farming.
In World War 1, the British Armed Forces invaded Iraq
and contracted with the
Hanna-Sheikhs to provide them food, provisions and
services.
Present day Iraq
emerged in 1923 and the Hanna-Sheikhs became the biggest employer in Iraq after
the government.
Whenever the
British High Commissioner visited Amarah, he was always the official guest of
the Hanna-Sheikhs who built on a wing to their mansion for him.
In 1927, a marine
company that the Hanna-Sheikhs loaned money to became insolvent. So the family
inherited a marine company against their will. Still they built this company to
be one of the biggest in the Arab World.
In the 1930’s
the Hanna-Sheikh’s owned passenger ferries operating on the Tigris River from
Mosul to Basrah. During the same period they were the only company to own oil
product depots and gas stations spanning on the Tigris river from South of
Baghdad to Basra.
In the 1930’s
and 40’s, the Hanna-Sheikhs were one of the main contractors to British
Petroleum in Iraq, as well as Iran, until 1951 when the Iranian Prime Minister
Musadaq nationalized the oil industry resulting in British Petroleum leaving.
British Petroleum moved to Kuwait and the Hanna-Sheikhs moved along with them
offering the same services.
During World War
II, part of the Hanna-Sheikhs fleet were used by the Allied Forces. Again in the
first Gulf War (1991) the fleet was utilized and fleet vessels were awarded
citations by Allied Command. In the second Gulf War (2003), Hanna-Sheikhs
British flag vessels were assisting striken merchant vessels in the war zone by
towing them to safety. Also some of the other fleet
was on standby to assist Marine Emergency Mutual Aid Centre (MEMAC) in
mop up operations in the event of seepage of crude oil in the Gulf waters.
Nadhim’s father
(Michael) moved to Basra (City of Sinbad the Sailor) in the 1930’s. Basrah is
located 30 minutes by car south of the Garden of Eden. It is also called Venice
of the Arab World.
In 1957, Sheikh
Abdulla AlSalem Al-Sabah, ruler of Kuwait visited Iraq once and was the guest of
the Hanna-Sheikhs.
Michael was the
first and only non Muslim in history to be officially invited to visit the Shia
Holy See in Najaf and Karbala by then Grand Ayatollah (Shia Pope) Kashif Alghata.
In March 1967, His
Highness Sheikh Zayed Al-Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates and ruler
of Abu Dhabi sent his emissary to Basra inviting Michael. The Hanna-Sheikhs
company was established in 1968.
In 1973, the
Hanna-Sheikh’s arranged one of the largest oil deals ever made at the time
(Newsweek magazine issue of February 26, 1973).
The Hanna-Sheikhs
are respected and admired by the Iraqi people and the Iraqi Governments starting
with the Monarchy leading up to present day Saddam Hussein Regime.
The Hanna-Sheikhs
are compared by the Iraqis to the Rockefellers of the US, Rothschilds of Europe,
and the Tatas of India.