KARACHI: The Board of Directors and Management of the National Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA) awarded Zia Mohyeddin the prestigious Jinnah Medal. It was presented to him by the Pakistan Society (in the UK) in a ceremony in London.
The Society, whose Patron-in-chief is Prince Phillip, The Duke of Edinburgh, was founded in 1951. Sir William Blackburne is its current President. The event is annually held in the Great Hall of Lincoln’s Inn, the Inn of Court which called Mohammad Ali Jinnah to the English Bar in 1895.
The Jinnah Medal is usually presented to someone who, in the judgment of the Society’s executive body “has contributed significantly to the advancement of public knowledge and understanding in the UK of Pakistan, its culture, languages, peoples and affairs.”
Mohyeddin is well known as an eminent actor, director, producer and author. In the words of Sir William Blackburne, he is the “Gielgud of Pakistan.” He received his training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and went on to an international career that has spanned over 65 years. He has achieved wide critical acclaim in a great number of successful stage, film radio and television performances in London.