James Justinian Morier
Encyclopedia
James Justinian Morier (1780 – 19 March 1849) was a British diplomat and author noted for his novels about Qajar dynasty
Iran
, most famously for the Hajji Baba series.
İzmir
(Smyrna), the second son of Isaac Morier, a Swiss-born merchant, British by naturalisation, and a member of the London-based Levant Company
, and Elizabeth Clara Van Lennep. After private education in England, he worked in his father's İzmir business between 1799 and 1806.
and Asia Minor
to Constantinople
in the years 1808 and 1809. In 1809 he accompanied the Iranian envoy to Britain, Mirza Abul Hasan, and in 1810 returned to Iran as Secretary of Embassy on the staff of Sir Gore Ouseley
, first ambassador to Iran. He remained there as Chargé d'Affaires in 1814 until 1816 and after his return to England he published A Second Journey through Iran to Constantinople between the years 1810 and 1816.
negotiating the treaty with that country that was eventually ratified in 1827.
, a humanitarian airlift operation conducted in 1952 by the US Air Force, took its name from the Hajji Baba novels.
Qajar dynasty
The Qajar dynasty was an Iranian royal family of Turkic descent who ruled Persia from 1785 to 1925....
Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, most famously for the Hajji Baba series.
Early life
He was born in 1780 in OttomanOttoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
İzmir
Izmir
Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...
(Smyrna), the second son of Isaac Morier, a Swiss-born merchant, British by naturalisation, and a member of the London-based Levant Company
Levant Company
The Levant Company, or Turkey Company, was an English chartered company formed in 1581, to regulate English trade with Turkey and the Levant...
, and Elizabeth Clara Van Lennep. After private education in England, he worked in his father's İzmir business between 1799 and 1806.
Career in Iran
He first visited Iran in 1808 as secretary to Harford (later Sir Harford) Jones, a special British envoy to the Shah, publishing an account of his experiences in 1812 under the title A Journey through Iran, ArmeniaArmenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
and Asia Minor
Asia Minor
Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...
to Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
in the years 1808 and 1809. In 1809 he accompanied the Iranian envoy to Britain, Mirza Abul Hasan, and in 1810 returned to Iran as Secretary of Embassy on the staff of Sir Gore Ouseley
Gore Ouseley
Sir Gore Ouseley, 1st Baronet GCH , was a British entrepreneur, linguist and diplomat. He was born in 1770 and died at Hall Barn Park, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire in 1844...
, first ambassador to Iran. He remained there as Chargé d'Affaires in 1814 until 1816 and after his return to England he published A Second Journey through Iran to Constantinople between the years 1810 and 1816.
Commissioner to Mexico
He married Harriet Fulke Greville in London in 1820 and between 1824 and 1826 he was special commissioner to MexicoMexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
negotiating the treaty with that country that was eventually ratified in 1827.
Novelist career
With his knowledge of Eastern life and manners he wrote several entertaining novels. The most popular of these was The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan (1824) and its sequel The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan in England (1828). There followed Zohrab the Hostage (1832), Ayesha the Maid of Kars (1834), and The Mirza (1841), all full of brilliant description, character-painting, and delicate satire, and several others of lesser quality.Legacy
Operation Hajji BabaOperation Hajji Baba
Operation Hajji Baba was a humanitarian airlift operation performed by the United States Air Force between 25and 29 August 1952. The mission of the operation was to airlift Hajj pilgrims stranded in Beirut,...
, a humanitarian airlift operation conducted in 1952 by the US Air Force, took its name from the Hajji Baba novels.
External links
- The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan set forth in Eighty Chapters, full text
- The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan, excerpt at Project Gutenberg
- Ayesha, Maid of Kars at Google Books