The Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada Endowment

Portrait of S.S. Pirzada

The Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada Endowment, established by Rafat Pirzada and his wife, Amna Jaffer, and named after Rafat Pirzada’s father, Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada on the occasion of his 90th birthday, supports the Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada Dissertation Prize on Pakistan, an annual dissertation prize for the best work in the humanities, social sciences, law, or public health on Pakistan, the region that is Pakistan, or things to do with Pakistan, as well as the Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada Lecture on Pakistan - an annual lecture series designed around the winner of the S.S. Pirzada Dissertation Prize.

Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada was born on 12 June 1923 in Burhanpur (British India). He was an elder statesman of Pakistan, a leading historian of the Pakistan movement, and a pre-eminent lawyer who was widely regarded as one of Pakistan's leading constitutional experts. Mr. Pirzada started his political career by working for Muhammad Ali Jinnah as an assistant in Bombay in 1941, and it was at Jinnah's behest that he chose the legal profession.

Mr. Pirzada held a variety of high level positions in the Pakistan government including Foreign Minister of Pakistan (twice), Attorney General of Pakistan (three times), and served as senior advisor to former President Musharraf.

He also led the Pakistani delegation a number of times to the UN General Assembly, the UN Human Rights Council, the Law of Sea Conference, as well as addressed the UN Security Council many times on issues related to Islamic countries. He successfully argued at the International Court of Justice, was appointed by the UN General Assembly to the International Law Commission, served as a judge at the ICJ, and was elected Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

Mr. Pirzada was awarded the Nishan-e-Imtiaz Pakistan's highest civil award in 1998, and received high civil awards from Jordan, Syria, France, South Korea and Germany.

Mr. Pirzada published several books on the Pakistan movement and aspects of constitutional law in Pakistan.

Mr Sharifuddin Pirzada passed away on June 2, 2017.

Click here for further details on eligibility requirements and application process.