Inaara Aga Khan

German philanthropist

Inaara Aga Khan, formerly Begum Inaara Aga Khan (born Gabriele Renate Homey; formerly Thyssen; 1 April 1963), also previously known as Princess Inaara Aga Khan, was the second wife of the Aga Khan IV, the 49th Imam of the Nizari branch of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims; from May 1998 to March 2014, she held the title Begum Aga Khan.

Inaara Aga Khan, born as Gabriele Renate Homey, is the daughter of a family of successful German entrepreneurs, Renate Thyssen Henne [de; fr] (née Kerkhoff) and Helmut Friedhelm Homey. Early in life, she adopted the surname "Thyssen" from her stepfather Bodo Thyssen (a member of the Thyssen family). After attending the Schloss Salem School on Lake Constance and the École des Roches (fr) in Normandy she studied jurisprudence at the Universities of Munich and Cologne. In 1990, Inaara graduated magna cum laude with a doctorate in international law after completing her thesis on German American commercial law. Her early career included working, whilst still at university, in the management of her mother's company (at the time Austria's largest hotel and restaurant chain) and later as an associate attorney for a German law firm.

Since 1999, Inaara has been supporting micro loans and third world development projects through the German foundation Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe. The foundation funds micro loans to families and single parents to promote self reliance and to end the cycle of poverty in developing countries, which include Cambodia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Montenegro, Pakistan, Romania, Thailand and Vietnam. Inaara has committed time to charitable causes; in particular those involving women's rights, educational projects and the improvement of opportunities and living conditions for people of all faiths and origins in developing countries. In January 2002, Inaara became the honorary president of Focus Humanitarian Assistance, the crisis response agency that is an affiliate of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) and which provides relief and support services during and following natural and man made disasters, primarily in Asia and Africa. In this capacity, Inaara supported several projects for the repatriation of Afghan refugees to their homeland and for rebuilding civil society in Afghanistan. In addition, she continued to contribute to numerous UNESCO projects, particularly in the area of welfare for women and children, for example, UNESCO's "Passport for Equality" project. Amongst others, she accepted the patronage of the Innocence in Danger Gala event for 2003 in Berlin to help victims of child sexual abuse. Together with her mother and stepfather, Ernst Theodor Henne, Inaara founded in 2003 the German aid organization "SOS Projects for People and Animals" to help mentally ill, handicapped and traumatized children with the support of animals, particularly dogs, to bring fun and joy into the children's lives, and to overcome their pain and suffering. Since 2004, Inaara has become intensively involved in the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic and supports the German AIDS Foundation. To respond more effectively to the above mentioned humanitarian programmes, Inaara founded an umbrella organization, The "Princess Inaara Foundation", in 2004. The purpose of the foundation is to provide philanthropic assistance to the causes and charitable organizations whose work represents the humanitarian goals that Inaara has long supported. In 2009, Inaara became an ambassador for FIFA Football for Hope to promote a high quality, sustainable social and humanitarian development programme, centred on football, which focuses on the fields of health promotion, peacebuilding, children's rights and education, anti discrimination, social integration and the environment.

In September 2006, Inaara was awarded the "Reminders Day" award for her commitment, dedication. and relentless effort in the fight against HIV and AIDS. The award was presented to her at Berlin's red brick City Hall by Mayor Klaus Wowereit during the "Reminders Day" ceremony. In January 2007, she was named the "No.1" person of German Society by the German magazine "Gala", which wrote "Whereas other women, following separation from their influential husbands, often disappear from society without a trace, Her Highness has catapulted from last year's 19th position to first position. She has maintained her commitment to charitable work and stylish appearance and not said a single unkind word about her husband, the Aga Khan."