THE FOUNDER

The late Abdulrahman bin Jassim Kanoo was born in the city of Manama in 1932. He was first enrolled in the Western Elementary School in Manama, then the Secondary School for boys. He traveled to study in Cairo and enrolled in Mohamed Ali School in the Sayida Zainab area, then Khedeyweya Secondary School. After joining secondary school, he enrolled in the American University of Beirut.

The late Abdulrahman Kanoo is one of the seven owners of the partners of Youssef Bin Ahmed Kanoo Group. This successful commercial group represents one of the largest national companies operating in the Gulf region that was established by the late Youssef Bin Ahmed Kanoo in 1890.

He himself, outside of the family company, had a unique commercial mentality, in his leadership of the real estate and construction services sector in the group for many years. He played an essential role in the development of this sector with several successful projects. He had a social spirit that was compassionate and sympathetic that expanded to all people. He had a prominent role in supporting and developing the social and charitable orientation of this commercial group that gained a prominent position in its society. These values remain today, inclusive of the establishment of many charitable societies and committees within the Kingdom of Bahrain.

The late Abdulrahman bin Jassim Kanoo headed Al-Ahli Club for more than twenty years (1979-2000) which is one of the largest sports clubs at the time. He was awarded honorary membership of the Al-Ahli Club in 1988 and Ismaili Club in 1992. He also championed gender equality by promoting female participation in basketball and volleyball teams.

In the year 1992 he was awarded the State Prize for National Action. In cooperation with the Bahraini poet Ali Abdullah Khalifa and elite group of Bahraini intellectuals, he participated in the 1995 establishment of the National Cultural Forum, assumed financial support, continued his activities weekly, and assumed the position of honorary president until his death.

Abdulrahman Kanoo International School (ARKIS) was established in 1997, in the capital governate of Manama. Opened to ensure education was accessible to all, he personally financed the school’s growth and purchased land in the Salmabad area where a purpose-built, modern, and fully equipped school was built in 2005 and remains at this location to date. The school today supports over 2500 students and more than 250 staff.

In 1992, he was awarded the State Prize for National Action and in 1999, His Highness Prince Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain, appointed him as a member of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports.

After his death in 2009  his nephews independently continued his legacy of inclusiveness and philanthropic endeavours under his name. His legacy continues in the formation of the Abdul Rahman Kanoo Group, in which cooperation is given to the government of Bahrain by financing, building and outfitting community projects that support the community of Bahrain. To date these have included health centres, mosques, a rehabilitation centre, a dialysis centre and an elderly care home. They continue to contribute under his name, with the latest venture being that of a new fully equipped school in Diyar Al Muharraq,  a promise made by his nephew before his death, which took over ten years to reach fruition. It is from here, again for the forward thinking of the Board of Trustees, that the first Bahrain Education group was formed, ARKEDU.