Moulay Hassan ben al-Mahdi was a prince from the Alaouite royal dynasty in Morocco, who held the office of Khalifa in Tétouan, which was the de-facto Sultan of the Spanish zone, with the same powers to issue decrees published in the Journal Officiel. After the independence of Morocco he was posted as Ambassador to London and then Rome, and then was appointed as the director of Morocco's central bank (Bank al-Maghrib) until his death in 1985. He married the daughter of Sultan Moulay Abdelaziz. Today his grandson is a very close adviser to king Mohammed VI, officially holding the office of Hajib.
Life
editHassan ben al-Mahdi was the son of al-Mahdi ben Ismail ben Sultan Mohammed ben Sultan Abderahman. He was born in Fes in 1911 and moved to Tétouan with his father in 1912, when the Spanish appointed his father as Khalifa of the Spanish Zone. After the death of his father on 23 October 1923, the Spanish appointed him to the office on 8 November 1925, whilst he was only 14. Despite his age he was made to sign decrees as early as 1926, still published in Morocco Journal Officiel and applicable, among which was one to expell members of the Government of the Rif Republic from the Spanish zone and assigned residence in Safi and Essaouira, in addition to the improsenment of some 50 others in Mellila.