Gharios El Chemor Al-Numan VIII (née. Ahnume Guerios, born 29 September 1973) is the claimant to the defunct throne of Ghassan and the Head of the Royal House of Ghassan.

The Royal House of Ghassan in accredited by the UN with Special Consultative Status since 2016, his claim to the headship of the house is recognized by the Global Imams Council since 2020 and by Dr. Joseph Albert Kechichian, one of the leading schollars in Arabic royal succession. He is also the only secular Christian leader from the Middle East recognized by multiple entities of different backgrounds. The Royal House of Ghassan is also legally authorized to operate in Lebanon by Presidential decree 5,800/2019 and by the Lebanese Ministry of Interior and Municipalities General Directorate of Political Affairs and Refugees – Number: 814/4/2022.

Martial Arts

Gharios started practicing martial arts at the age of four with Judo. He was initially forced by his father, but soon started appreciating martial arts and Asian culture in general. Later he also practiced Kung Fu, Karate, European Fencing, Japanese swordsmanship, Jiu-Jistu, Kali Silat, Kobudo and Aikido.

He started Aikido in 1986 and became an instructor for beginners in 1991. Got his black belt in 1992 being registered in Japan in 1993. In the same year founded the Shinken Institute, active until 2017, operating schools of Aikido and Japanese Culture in five Brazilian cities.

Gharios was a direct disciple and business associate of Steven Seagal from 1997 to 2002.

Between 2003 and 2017, Gharios was a direct student of Yoshimitsu Yamada Sensei 8o.Dan (one of the few direct disciple of the founder of Aikido Morihei Ueshiba). Gharios was responsible for the of Aikido (Aikikai) in Curitiba (Parana, Brazil) from 1991 until 2010.

Writer

In 2012, Gharios "Dynastic & Nobility Law - The End of a Myth", regarding the laws of nobility, titles and royalty.

In 2014, the prince won the 21st international cultural award given by the regions of Trentino, Abruzzo and Alto Adige (Italian Government) in the history category for his book “Middle East - the secret history”.  It was the first time an Arab author was awarded in over 20 years.

Charity

Heavily influenced by his family, specially his grandmother, Gharios was always interested in charity, volunteering in several non-profit organization, both in Brazil and the United States.

In 2016 Michael Hesemann founded the  Prinz Gharios Stiftung, a non-profit organization based in Germany that aims support Christians in the Middle East, "to provide care, education and training for Christian war orphans, to support persecuted and expelled Christians, and to preserve and promote the culture of oriental Christianity of all denominations."

In 2019, Gharios and his supporters started the "One Voice for Christians" initiative, presided by Antoine Kalaydjian with a board composed by Dr. Joseph Albert Kechichian, Michael Hesemann, Khalil Melhem and Thomas Schirrmacher. The initiative is supported by several religious leaders, including His Holiness Aram I and Paul Youssef Matar.

Most recently, Gharios created World Evolution initiative, which aims to address three major global issues: hunger, “green wealth” and education.

Dynastic Orders

In 2008, when Gharios assumed the headship of the Royal House, he created the first dynastic order, called "Sacred Order of Saint Michael Archangel", which was later renamed to "Equestrian Order of Michael Archangel".

The order was granted to and accepted by Bujar Nishani, former president of Albania, in a special private meeting at the presidential palace in 2017. The order was also granted to His Holliness Aram I, the Head of the Holy See of Cilicia, in 2018. Other notable members include former Minister of Technology of Brazil and astronaut Marcos Pontes, Hajji Baba Mondi and Prince Leka II of the Albanians.

In 2023 Gharios created two new orders, the Order of Saint Sergius (the patron saint of the Ghassanids) and the Order of Christ Pantokrator, which will be limited to 100 members.

It's argued that the Ghassanids were one of the first Christian Knights, fighting to protect the Holy Land under the Byzantine Empire, roughly 500 years before the First Crusade. They were the first Christian combatants to incorporate a code of honour, equivalent to a "chivalric code". The Ghassanid code of honour was based on the Arab concept of "Muru'a", that had basic principles very similar to what later became synonym of chivalry (bravery in combat, respect for woman, protection of the weak and honour). Since the Ancient Ghassanids were not organized in Orders as we know, these dynastic orders do not claim to be a succession or a continuation of any ancient order.

Honours and awards

Honours

Dynastic honours

 Royal House of Ghassan: Grand-Master of the Equestrian Order of Christ Pantokrator;

 Royal House of Ghassan: Grand-Master of the Equestrian Order of Saint Sergius;

 Royal House of Ghassan: Grand-Master of the Equestrian Order of Michael Archangel;

Foreign honours

 Knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem (2014);
 Dragomanov Medal of European Communication (2017);
 Knight Commander of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem (2019);
 Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of Omukama Chwa II Kabalega (2020);
 Grand Collar of the Royal Order of Obeng II (2021);

Awards
 Kentucky Colonel (2012);
 AOF Icon Award (2021);
 International Sports hall of Fame (2022);
 Listed in the Marquis Who's Who in America (2023);

References 

1973 births
Living people