section_path: Early life and education
section_name: Early life and education
paragraph_text: Early life and education
  
  Karim al-Husseini was born in Geneva, Switzerland, on 13 December 1936, the eldest son of Prince Aly Khan (1911–1960) and his first wife, Princess Taj-ud-dawlah Aga Khan, formerly Joan Yarde-Buller (1908–1997). His mother was the eldest daughter of the British peer John Yarde-Buller, 3rd Baron Churston.
  
  He was declared healthy despite being born prematurely. His brother, Amyn Aga Khan, was born a year later in 1937. In 1949, his parents divorced in part due to Prince Aly Khan's extramarital affairs, and shortly after, Prince Aly Khan married American actress Rita Hayworth – with whom he had a daughter, Princess Yasmin Aga Khan, the half-sister of al-Husseini.
  
  He also had a half-brother, Patrick Benjamin Guinness (1931–1965), from his mother's first marriage, as Joan Yarde-Buller was previously married to Loel Guinness of the banking Guinnesses.
  
  Karim spent the war years in Nairobi, Kenya, where his early education was through private tutoring. He later attended the Institut Le Rosey in Switzerland for nine years where he achieved, in his words, "fair grades". He was admitted to MIT and wanted to study science, but his grandfather, Sultan Muhammad Shah, vetoed the decision, owing to which he attended Harvard University, where he was elected a member of The Delphic Club and majored in Islamic history.
  
  When his grandfather died, he was thrust into the position of the Aga Khan. At the time of his accession to the Imamate in 1957, Karim al-Husseini was a university student. Reflecting on the transition, he later stated that he had to set aside plans for further academic study in order to assume his new responsibilities as Imam. He graduated from Harvard University in 1959, two years after ascending the imamate, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history (with Cum Laude honours) and his varsity H for the Harvard Crimson men's soccer team.
  
  Khan was a competitive downhill skier, representing Great Britain at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1962 and then Iran in the 1964 Winter Olympics.
  
  Karim al-Husseini was born in Geneva, Switzerland, on 13 December 1936, the eldest son of Prince Aly Khan (1911–1960) and his first wife, Princess Taj-ud-dawlah Aga Khan, formerly Joan Yarde-Buller (1908–1997). His mother was the eldest daughter of the British peer John Yarde-Buller, 3rd Baron Churston.
  
  He was declared healthy despite being born prematurely. His brother, Amyn Aga Khan, was born a year later in 1937. In 1949, his parents divorced in part due to Prince Aly Khan's extramarital affairs, and shortly after, Prince Aly Khan married American actress Rita Hayworth – with whom he had a daughter, Princess Yasmin Aga Khan, the half-sister of al-Husseini.
  
  He also had a half-brother, Patrick Benjamin Guinness (1931–1965), from his mother's first marriage, as Joan Yarde-Buller was previously married to Loel Guinness of the banking Guinnesses.
  
  Karim spent the war years in Nairobi, Kenya, where his early education was through private tutoring. He later attended the Institut Le Rosey in Switzerland for nine years where he achieved, in his words, "fair grades". He was admitted to MIT and wanted to study science, but his grandfather, Sultan Muhammad Shah, vetoed the decision, owing to which he attended Harvard University, where he was elected a member of The Delphic Club and majored in Islamic history.
  
  When his grandfather died, he was thrust into the position of the Aga Khan. At the time of his accession to the Imamate in 1957, Karim al-Husseini was a university student. Reflecting on the transition, he later stated that he had to set aside plans for further academic study in order to assume his new responsibilities as Imam. He graduated from Harvard University in 1959, two years after ascending the imamate, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history (with Cum Laude honours) and his varsity H for the Harvard Crimson men's soccer team.
  
  Khan was a competitive downhill skier, representing Great Britain at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1962 and then Iran in the 1964 Winter Olympics.