Daoud Anastas Hanania (Arabic: داود حنانيا) (born 1934 in Jerusalem) is a Jordanian heart surgeon.
[1] Daoud Hanania was born into an Orthodox Christian Palestinian family originally hailed from Jerusalem, Palestine.
Hanania trained under Dr. Michael DeBakey and Dr. Denton Cooley in Houston, Texas as a Fellow in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery at Baylor University College of Medicine.
But his most important achievement came in 1985 after performing the first ever successful cardiac transplant in the Middle East and the Arab world at the King Hussein Medical Center in Amman, Jordan.
After retiring from active army duty with the military rank of Lt. General in 1989, Hanania served six terms as a Senator in Jordan's Upper House of Parliament from 1989–1997 and from 2007–2013.
He was appointed as a member of the Board of Trustees of the King Hussein Foundation in 1999 and elected President for Life of the Jordan Cardiothoracic Society in 2005.
[3] [4] Hanania was appointed an Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 1984, the Légion d'honneur by François Mitterrand also in 1984, the Nile Medal First Class of Sudan in 1986, the Insignia of the Commander (First Class) of the Royal Swedish Order by King Carl Gustaf in 1989 and the Medal of the Banner/Bright Star of Taiwan.
He also holds the seven major state decorations in Jordan, the highest being the al-Nahda Medal of the First Order which he received from King Hussein in 1994.
In 2009, Hanania received an award from King Abdullah II in recognition of his contributions to the Royal Medical Services in Jordan.
On May 25, 2021, King Abdullah II bestowed the first centennial medal of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan upon Dr. Hanania and other Jordanians.