Saʿūd

▪ king of Saudi Arabia

in full  Saʿūd Ibn Abdul ʿazīz Al-fayṣal As-saʿūd  

born Jan. 15, 1902, Kuwait

died Feb. 23, 1969, Athens, Greece

 son and successor of Ibn Saʿūd, and king of Saudi Arabia from 1953 to 1964.

      After Ibn Saʿūd had conquered (1925) the Hejaz, a district in the Arabian Peninsula, he made his two eldest sons, Saʿūd and Fayṣal, his deputies in Najd and Hejaz, respectively. Saʿūd's primary responsibility was for the Bedouins. In 1933 he was named crown prince, and he and Fayṣal led a successful campaign against Yemen in the following year. When Ibn Saʿūd established a council of ministers in 1953, Saʿūd became its president, and in November of that year he became king with the support of his brothers.

      He continued his father's program of modernization, with special emphasis on increased medical and educational facilities. Domestic affairs, however, were overshadowed by a crisis in the administration of the central government; in the early 1950s the first large-scale petroleum royalties began to be received, and financial and administrative affairs became too complex to be conducted simply on the personal authority of the king. Saʿūd had neither the ability nor the inclination to cope with these problems, and he so mismanaged the financial affairs of the state that he was forced to reconstitute the council of ministers and give full executive powers to Fayṣal as its president. Saʿūd did not regain executive authority until 1960.

      In 1963 Saʿūd was forced to spend a considerable amount of time abroad for medical treatment, and in his absence domestic opposition intensified against him. The dissident elements supported Fayṣal, and in March 1964 all powers were transferred to him as viceroy of the kingdom. In November of that year Saʿūd was formally deposed, and Fayṣal became the new king of Saudi Arabia.

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