Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan

Khalifa spent most of his childhood in Al Ain. His early education began with the traditional learning of the tenets of Islam from a religious teacher (mutawa), Sheikh Thani bin Ahmed; his father then arranged a qualified tutor from Muscat and a small school at Muwaiji, and Khalifa went on to the Al Nahyaneia Model School and Alfalah school, and later graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He regularly attended his father's majlis, where he gained experience in leadership. ^{1 2}

In 1966, when his father became ruler of Abu Dhabi, Khalifa was appointed at eighteen as the ruler's representative in the Eastern Region and head of its courts. He was named crown prince of Abu Dhabi on 1 February 1969 and chaired its defence department; after the federation he became prime minister of Abu Dhabi in 1971, chaired its Executive Council from 1974, served as deputy prime minister of the UAE in the second federal cabinet (1973–1977), and became deputy supreme commander of the UAE armed forces in May 1976. He later chaired the Supreme Petroleum Council. From the late 1990s, as his father's health declined, he carried out some aspects of the presidency in a de facto capacity. ^{1 3 2}

Khalifa succeeded his father as ruler of Abu Dhabi on 2 November 2004, and the Federal Supreme Council elected him president the following day. As ruler he attracted cultural and academic institutions to Abu Dhabi — the Louvre Abu Dhabi, New York University Abu Dhabi and Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi — and established Etihad Airways; under his presidency the UAE became a regional economic powerhouse and its non-oil economy grew. He was viewed as a pro-Western modernizer who forged closer ties with the United States and Israel. During the 2008 financial crisis he directed billions of dollars in emergency bailout funds into Dubai, and on 4 January 2010 the world's tallest structure, originally Burj Dubai, was renamed Burj Khalifa in his honour. ¹

In January 2014 Khalifa suffered a stroke and underwent surgery, after which he was reported to be in stable condition. He then assumed a lower profile, retaining ceremonial presidential powers while his half-brother Mohamed bin Zayed carried out the public affairs of the state and the day-to-day decision-making of Abu Dhabi. Forbes named him in its 2018 list of the world's most powerful people. He died on 13 May 2022 and was succeeded by Mohamed bin Zayed. ^{1 4}

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