“Princess Yasmin Aga Khan decided at the age of twenty to make the fight against Alzeihmer’s disease her life’s work, marked by the dementia that gradually took her mother, the famous actress Rita Hayworth, in the 1980s. She helped found Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) in 1984 and, later, Alzheimer France. Under the leadership of Princess Aga Khan, ADI advocated for the development of national plans and supported the efforts of the European Commission. The princess also contributed to the unanimous adoption of the global action plan on dementia in May 2017 at the World Health Organization (WHO)” — Knight of the Legion of Honor

On the auspicious occasion of Princess Yasmin Aga Khan’s 72nd birthday on December 28, 2021, Barakah had published a brief feature piece on the Princess (see next section, below), followed by a much longer article entitled Princess with a Mission as part of Barakah’s support through its readers worldwide for the Rita Hayworth Gala that took place on April 22, 2022.

A year later, as we wish Princess Yasmin a very happy 73rd birthday, we are pleased to report that in October 2022, the French Ambassador to the United States, Mr. Philippe Etienne, and the Consul General of France in New York, Mr. Jérémie Robert, made four Americans Knights of the Legion of Honor. Princess Yasmin Aga Khan, younger sister of Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, and Prince Amyn Mohamed was among the four that were knighted along with scientist Olivia Flatto, writer Adam Gopnik, and art historian Professor Roberta Bernstein (please read article at the Consulat général de France à New York website in English HERE and in French HERE).

We extend our greetings to Princess Yasmin on her 73rd birthday as well as congratulate her on the knighthood that she has been bestowed with by the French government. We wish the Princess good health, and that she may continue to be an inspiration to millions around the world through the work that she has done for the cause of Alzheimer’s and to persist with finding a cure for the disease.

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Our Brief 2021 Piece on Princess Yasmin on the Occasion of Her 72nd Birthday

Barakah Will Profile the Princess and Her Dedication to Alzheimer’s Research Early in 2022

By MALIK MERCHANT
Publisher/Editor Simergphotos, Simerg and Barakah

Alzheimer’s, a disease that was first discovered in 1906, still has no cure after 115 years. Mawlana Hazar Imam’s and Prince Amyn Mohamed’s younger sister, Princess Yasmin, has been at the forefront of raising public awareness about the disease, which contributed to the death of Princess Yasmin’s beloved mother, Ms. Rita Hayworth, on May 14, 1987 at the age of 68. However, Ms. Hayworth’s onset of the disease had begun much earlier, and it took more than ten years before Princess Yasmin found the doctor who diagnosed her mother with Alzheimer’s.

Princess Yasmin turned 72 on Tuesday December 28, 2021, and Sadruddin Noorani of Chicago who has been an active supporter of the Alzheimer’s Association since 1996, having served on its Steering Committee as a member and benefactor, is preparing a special feature piece on the Princess.

Noorani’s article will focus on the work that Princess Yasmin has been doing for the Alzheimer’s Association since she joined it in 1981, and we hope to publish the piece early in the New Year.

We felt it appropriate at this time to convey, on behalf of all readers of Barakah and its sister websites Simerg and Simergphotos, our warm birthday greetings to Princess Yasmin and congratulate her on her birthday. We wish her good health as well as success in the work she is passionately carrying out to seek out a cure for Alzheimer’s.

For Princess Yasmin’s auspicious birthday, we are honoured and happy to publish a photograph of the Princess with the Late American President Ronald Reagan. Princess Yasmin has graciously shared the signed photograph with Barakah, through Mr. Noorani.

We are also pleased to include a lovely portrait photo of the Princess taken by Bernard Gotfryd in New York 1984. We had published the portrait in an earlier piece as part of a collection of photographs of Mawlana Hazar Imam, Begum Salimah and Princess Yasmin that appear on the website of the US Library of Congress (please click HERE to see Bernard Gotfryd’s photographs in Barakah).

We would like our readers to note that in March 2019, Princess Yasmin spoke on Alzheimer’s at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, following which Canada’s national newspaper, The Globe and Mail, conducted an interview with her. We invite our readers to read the interview, “There’s Hope,” by clicking HERE; it is available free of charge but requires the creation of an on-line account on the Globe and Mail website or by providing your Facebook or Gmail credentials.

We congratulate Princess Yasmin on her recent birthday, and look forward to publishing Princess Yasmin’s profile in the New Year (the piece was published in April 22, 2022 under the title “Yasmin Aga Khan: A Princess With a Mission” — Ed.)

Date posted: December 27, 2021.
Last updated: December 25, 2022.

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REVIEW TABLE OF CONTENTS AND VISIT BARAKAH’S SISTER WEBSITES

Before departing this website please take a moment to visit Barakah’s Table of Contents for links to more than 275 pieces dedicated to Mawlana Hazar Imam, members of his family and the Ismaili Imamat. Also visit our two sister websites, Simerg and Simergphotos.