Odeen Ishmael

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Odeen Ishmael (born 1948) is a Guyanese diplomat. He is the current Guyanese ambassador to Venezuela and the former ambassador to the United States and permanent representative to the Organization of American States (OAS) (1993-2003). At the OAS he served for two periods as Chairman of the Permanent Council. Ishmael received the Cacique Crown of Honour in 1997. In 1974, Ishmael was awarded the Gandhi Centenary Gold Medal for academic achievement at the University of Guyana. In January 2002, in Washington DC, he was honored with the King Legacy Award for International Service. The US Congress also paid a special tribute to him in October 2003 just before he completed his service the United States.

[edit] Personal life

Ishmael traces his ancestry back to what are now the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. He has two children, Safraz, a Georgetown University law school alumnus, and Nadeeza, (alumnus of the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University), who works at a genetics company in Maryland ^[1]. His wife, Evangeline, is a teacher by profession.