Prince Gharios El Chemor of Ghassan Al-Numan VIII

Gharios El Chemor Al-Numan VIII (né Ahnume Guerios, born 29 September 1973) is the claimant to the defunct throne of Ghassan and the Head of the Royal House of Ghassan.

The Royal House of Ghassan has been accredited by the United Nations with Special Consultative Status since 2016, ^[1] with Gharios' claim to the headship of the house being recognized by the Global Imams Council since 2020^[2] and by Joseph A. Kéchichian, a scholar in Arabic royal succession.^[3] Gharios is also the only secular Christian leader from the Middle East recognized by multiple entities of different backgrounds.^[4]

Martial arts[edit]

Gharios started practicing martial arts at the age of four with Judo. He was initially forced by his father, but soon started appreciating martial arts and Asian culture more generally. Later he also practiced Kung Fu, Karate, European Fencing, Japanese swordsmanship, Jiu-Jistu, Kali Silat, Kobudo and Aikido.^[5]

He started Aikido in 1986 and became an instructor for beginners in 1991. He received the black belt in 1992, being registered in Japan in 1993. In the same year he founded the Shinken Institute, active until 2017, operating schools of Aikido and Japanese Culture in five Brazilian cities.

Gharios was a direct disciple and business associate of Steven Seagal from 1997 to 2002.^[6]

Between 2003 and 2017, Gharios was a direct student of Yoshimitsu Yamada Sensei 8o.Dan (one of the few direct disciples of the founder of Aikido Morihei Ueshiba). Gharios was responsible for the Aikido (Aikikai) in Curitiba (Parana, Brazil) from 1991 until 2010.

In 2017, he created the “Bruce Lee Award”, proposing it to the Asian World Film Festival. The award was finally adopted in 2022 by the festival and the Bruce Lee Foundation. The trophy was designed by Sir Daniel Winn.^[7]

Writer[edit]

In 2012, Gharios published Dynastic & Nobility Law - The End of a Myth,^[8] regarding the laws of nobility, titles and royalty.

In 2014, the prince won the 21st international cultural award given by the regions of Trentino, Abruzzo and Alto Adige (Italian Government) in the history category for his book Middle East - The Secret History and Possible Solutions.^[9] He was the first Arab winner in over 20 years.^[10]

Charity[edit]

Heavily influenced by his family, especially his grandmother, Gharios has always been interested in charity, volunteering in several non-profit organizations, both in Brazil and the United States.^{[11][self-published source]}

In 2016 Michael Hesemann founded the Prinz Gharios Stiftung, a non-profit organization based in Germany that aims support Christians in the Middle East, "to provide care, education and training for Christian war orphans, to support persecuted and expelled Christians, and to preserve and promote the culture of oriental Christianity of all denominations."^[12]

In 2019, Gharios and his supporters started the "One Voice for Christians" initiative, presided by Antoine Kalaydjian with a board composed by Joseph A. Kéchichian, Michael Hesemann, Khalil Melhem and Thomas Schirrmacher.^[13] The initiative is supported by several religious leaders, including His Holiness Aram I^[14] and Paul Youssef Matar.

Most recently, Gharios created World Evolution initiative, which aims to address three major global issues: hunger, “green wealth” and education.^[15]

Dynastic orders[edit]

In 2008, when Gharios assumed the headship of the Royal House, he created the first dynastic order, called the Sacred Order of Saint Michael Archangel, which was later renamed to "Equestrian Order of Michael Archangel". The order was granted to and accepted by Bujar Nishani, former president of Albania, in a special private meeting at the presidential palace in 2017.^[16][17][18] The order was also granted to Aram I,^[14] the head of the Holy See of Cilicia, in 2018. Other notable members include former Minister of Technology of Brazil and astronaut Marcos Pontes, Hajji Baba Mondi^[19] and Prince Leka II of the Albanians.

In 2023 Gharios created two new orders, the Order of Saint Sergius (the patron saint of the Ghassanids) and the Order of Christ Pantokrator, which is limited to 100 members.

Honours and awards[edit]

Honours[edit]

Dynastic honours[edit]

Royal House of Ghassan: Grand-Master of the Equestrian Order of Christ Pantokrator;

Royal House of Ghassan: Grand-Master of the Equestrian Order of Saint Sergius;

Royal House of Ghassan: Grand-Master of the Equestrian Order of Michael Archangel;

Foreign honours[edit]

• Knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem (2014);^{[20][self-published source]}
• Dragomanov Medal of European Communication, The National Pedagogical Dragomanov University in Kiev, Ukraine (2017);^{[20][self-published source]}
• Knight Commander of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem (2019);^{[20][self-published source]}
• Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of Omukama Chwa II Kabalega (2020);^{[20][self-published source]}
• Grand Collar of the Royal Order of Obeng II (2021);^[21]

Awards[edit]

• Kentucky Colonel (2012);^[20]
• AOF Icon Award (2021);
• International Sports Hall of Fame (2022);^[22]
• Listed in the Marquis Who's Who in America (2023);^[23]

References[edit]

External link[edit]

"Sovereign Imperial Royal House of Ghassan". royalghassan.org. Retrieved 5 March 2024.

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