Daoud Hanania

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Daoud Anastas Hanania (Arabic: داود حنانيا; born 1934 in Jerusalem) is a Jordanian heart surgeon and former Lieutenant General in the Jordanian Armed Forces as well as a long‑serving Jordanian Senator. He comes from an Orthodox Christian Palestinian family from Jerusalem. His father, Anastas Hanania, was a lawyer and politician who held several ministerial posts and served as Jordan’s ambassador to Britain; he was also a senator for many years.

The family moved to Amman in the early 1950s. Daoud joined the Jordanian army at 17 and earned a medical scholarship to England. He obtained his MBBS from St Mary’s Hospital Medical School, University of London, in 1957, and then worked in London as a surgeon. He specialized in cardiovascular surgery and became a fellow of several professional bodies. He trained in Houston, Texas, under Dr. Michael DeBakey and Dr. Denton Cooley.

Hanania performed Jordan’s first open‑heart surgery in 1970, the first heart‑valve replacement in 1972, the first kidney transplant in the Arab world in 1972, and the first coronary bypass in Jordan in 1973. His landmark achievement came in 1985 with the Middle East’s first successful heart transplant at King Hussein Medical Center in Amman.

In administration, Hanania led major Jordanian medical institutions. He was Director of King Hussein Medical Center (KHMC) from 1973 to 1976 and Director of the Royal Medical Services from 1976 to 1988. He also served as Chief of Cardiovascular Surgery at KHMC (1973–1992) and Director General of the National Medical Institution (1987–1989). He retired from the army in 1989 with the rank of Lieutenant General.

Politically, Hanania served six terms as a Jordanian Senator (1989–1997 and 2007–2013) and chaired the Senate Health, Environment and Social Development Committee, while also serving on the Foreign Relations Committee. He held many other roles, including president of the Jordan Cardiac Society and the Arab Cardiac Society, and Clinical Professor of Surgery at the Jordan University of Science and Technology. He helped found the Arab Center for Heart and Special Surgery (Arab Medical Center) and led it from 1991 to 1999, later founding the Hanania Medical Center in Amman.

Hanania continued performing cardiovascular surgery into the 2010s and held various board positions. He has received numerous honors, including honorary Knight Commander of the British Empire (KBE) in 1984 and the Légion d’honneur in 1984, along with several Jordanian and regional awards. In 2021, he was awarded the centennial medal of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

Married to Nada Pio in 1974, Daoud Hanania has four children. He was a close friend of King Hussein and Prince Zeid. His hobbies include reading, car racing and tennis, and he helped lead the Jordan Tennis Federation, contributing to Jordan’s entry into the Davis Cup.