His Excellency Omar Saif Ghobash was appointed Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the Russian Federation in 2008. He began his career with the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a diplomat at the UAE Mission to the United Nations.
Prior to his appointment in Moscow, Ghobash founded The Third Line, Dubai’s first international contemporary art gallery showcasing artists from the Middle East. He is a founding trustee of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction and sponsors the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation in memory of his father, Saif Ghobash, who was the UAE’s first Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.
Ghobash currently serves on the board of trustees at The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King’s College London and the Emirates Diplomatic Academy in Abu Dhabi. He received a law degree from Balliol College, Oxford University and a mathematics degree from the University of London.
(Photo © Sigrid Estrada)