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Ali Jawdat Al Ayoubi was born in Mosul in 1886. He graduated from the Imperial Military Academy in Istanbul, serving in the Ottoman army and joining a number of his Arab colleagues in establishing the secret Covenant Society. He fought a number of battles during World War I, before being imprisoned by the British at the Iraqi front in 1915.

After the Revolt erupted, he volunteered to serve, coming to Hijaz, where he served alongside Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, before joining Prince Faisal’s army in Aqaba. He was one of the leading Arab officers in the Northern Army who fought in battles until Arabs were able to enter Damascus and then Aleppo. He accompanied King Faisal in Iraq in 1921, serving in a number of administrative posts, before being appointed as interior minister. He also served several times as prime minister and Royal court chief, in addition to holding a number of high diplomatic positions. After the 14 July 1958 coup in Iraq, he stayed in Beirut, where he wrote his memoires, published in 1967. He died in 1969.