Mohammad Ali Kurdi (1928-2006) is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and intellectual born in Amman, Jordan. He belongs to an early generation of University educated Jordanians who started their careers in the 50’s and helped lay the foundations of the modern Jordanian state and economy.
Mr. Kurdi studied pharmacy at the American University in Beirut (AUB), and was the 7th registered pharmacist in the history of Jordan. He started his career working for the government where he established the Ministry of Health first biochemistry laboratory, but went on to start Kurdi Drugstore in 1955 a pharmaceutical import, distribution, and marketing outfit that is still thriving today, and that has partnered with some of the world‘s leading pharmaceutical companies.
Later, he was one of the co-founders of Dar Al Dawa, one of the first generic pharmaceuticals manufacturers in Jordan, and thereafter went on to establish Hayat Pharmaceutical Industries Co. Today, the companies that he founded employ thousands of employees.
A voracious reader who had a scientific outlook throughout his life, Mr. Kurdi was highly educated in numerous intellectual fields, especially history, the history of religion, and the history of Jordan and the region. A typical conversation with him on the most mundane subject had a very high likelihood of drawing back to historical influences that went back hundreds or thousands of years, and would be quite memorable to those who did not know him or who were meeting him for the first time.