Mohammad Vali Mirza Farman Farmaian
Encyclopedia
Mohammad Vali Mirza was the third son of Persian
Qajar nobleman Abdol Hossein Mirza Farmanfarma
and his wife Princess Ezzat-Dowleh.
His roots to Iranian Azarbaijan were revealed when at the age of 26, he earned a prominent position in the Majles (Iranian parliament) as the representative of Tabriz
. Working through the Majles, he invited American
advisors to help reform the military, rural security system, gendarmerie, and public financial sector.
Many advisors came including Colonel Norman Schwarzkopf and Dr Arthur Millspaugh
who had previously been an advisor to Iran in the 1920s.
Through his life, Mohammad Vali built a reputation for being a fair person and an excellent mediator.
When his father and brothers were imprisoned during the 1921 coup that brought the Pahlavi dynasty
to power Mohammad Vali Mirza escaped to Baghdad
. Afterwards, he returned to live in virtual seclusion under Reza Shah
. He died at the age of 92.
, when the Russian Communists seized many properties in Azarbaijan, Mohammad Vali Mirza travelled to Moscow to settle accounts. Disguised as a beggar, he crossed the mountain passes of Turkey on his way north but was captured by a Venezuelan general named Rafael de Nogales, who was fighting on the German side and almost shot him as a spy. Mohammad Vali Mirza escaped only at the last minute because he spoke to the general in French, prompting the general to realize, as Nogales wrote in his memoirs, "that he was a prince of the lineage of Farman Farma." Afterward the two became friends, and Mohammad Vali Mirza later bestowed a medal on Nogales in gratitude.
After the 1979 revolution he left Persia for Geneva, Switzerland with his family and not to return to Iran until he died at the age of 92.
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
Qajar nobleman Abdol Hossein Mirza Farmanfarma
Abdol Hossein Mirza Farmanfarma
Prince Abdol-Hossein Mirza was one of the most prominent Qajar princes, and one of the most influential politicians of his time in Persia. He was born to Prince Nosrat Dowleh Firouz Mirza 1859, and died in November 1939 at the age of 80. He was the 16th grandson of the Qajar crown prince Abbas...
and his wife Princess Ezzat-Dowleh.
Life
Since his youth, Mohammad Vali had spent a great deal of time in Iranian Azarbaijan, where he owned considerable estates. Consequently, even in language, he preferred Azari Turkish to the nationally dominant Persian.His roots to Iranian Azarbaijan were revealed when at the age of 26, he earned a prominent position in the Majles (Iranian parliament) as the representative of Tabriz
Tabriz
Tabriz is the fourth largest city and one of the historical capitals of Iran and the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. Situated at an altitude of 1,350 meters at the junction of the Quri River and Aji River, it was the second largest city in Iran until the late 1960s, one of its former...
. Working through the Majles, he invited American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
advisors to help reform the military, rural security system, gendarmerie, and public financial sector.
Many advisors came including Colonel Norman Schwarzkopf and Dr Arthur Millspaugh
Arthur Millspaugh
Arthur Chester Millspaugh, PhD, was a former adviser at the U.S. State Department’s Office of the Foreign Trade, who was hired to re-organize the Finance Ministry of Iran from 1922–1927 and 1942-1945....
who had previously been an advisor to Iran in the 1920s.
Through his life, Mohammad Vali built a reputation for being a fair person and an excellent mediator.
When his father and brothers were imprisoned during the 1921 coup that brought the Pahlavi dynasty
Pahlavi dynasty
The Pahlavi dynasty consisted of two Iranian/Persian monarchs, father and son Reza Shah Pahlavi and Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi The Pahlavi dynasty consisted of two Iranian/Persian monarchs, father and son Reza Shah Pahlavi (reg. 1925–1941) and Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi The Pahlavi dynasty ...
to power Mohammad Vali Mirza escaped to Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
. Afterwards, he returned to live in virtual seclusion under Reza Shah
Reza Shah
Rezā Shāh, also known as Rezā Shāh Pahlavi and Rezā Shāh Kabir , , was the Shah of the Imperial State of Iran from December 15, 1925, until he was forced to abdicate by the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran on September 16, 1941.In 1925, Reza Shah overthrew Ahmad Shah Qajar, the last Shah of the Qajar...
. He died at the age of 92.
Anecdote
At the end of World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, when the Russian Communists seized many properties in Azarbaijan, Mohammad Vali Mirza travelled to Moscow to settle accounts. Disguised as a beggar, he crossed the mountain passes of Turkey on his way north but was captured by a Venezuelan general named Rafael de Nogales, who was fighting on the German side and almost shot him as a spy. Mohammad Vali Mirza escaped only at the last minute because he spoke to the general in French, prompting the general to realize, as Nogales wrote in his memoirs, "that he was a prince of the lineage of Farman Farma." Afterward the two became friends, and Mohammad Vali Mirza later bestowed a medal on Nogales in gratitude.
After the 1979 revolution he left Persia for Geneva, Switzerland with his family and not to return to Iran until he died at the age of 92.
Government Positions Held
- Financial Agent at TabrizTabrizTabriz is the fourth largest city and one of the historical capitals of Iran and the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. Situated at an altitude of 1,350 meters at the junction of the Quri River and Aji River, it was the second largest city in Iran until the late 1960s, one of its former...
, 1916–1917 - Head of Finance DepartmentMinistry (government department)A ministry is a specialised organisation responsible for a sector of government public administration, sometimes led by a minister or a senior public servant, that can have responsibility for one or more departments, agencies, bureaus, commissions or other smaller executive, advisory, managerial or...
at TabrizTabrizTabriz is the fourth largest city and one of the historical capitals of Iran and the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. Situated at an altitude of 1,350 meters at the junction of the Quri River and Aji River, it was the second largest city in Iran until the late 1960s, one of its former...
, 1945–1946 - Minister of Parliament in 4th, 5th, and 6th Majles from TabrizTabrizTabriz is the fourth largest city and one of the historical capitals of Iran and the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. Situated at an altitude of 1,350 meters at the junction of the Quri River and Aji River, it was the second largest city in Iran until the late 1960s, one of its former...
- Minister of Parliament in 13th and 14th Majles from SarabSarabSarab is a city in and the capital of Sarab County, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 42,057, in 11,045 families.Sarab is famous for its rugs. From 1747 to 1813, it was the capital of the Khanate of Sarab....
See also
- PersiaIranIran , 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...
- History of Persia
- History of IranHistory of IranThe history of Iran has been intertwined with the history of a larger historical region, comprising the area from the Danube River in the west to the Indus River and Jaxartes in the east and from the Caucasus, Caspian Sea, and Aral Sea in the north to the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman and Egypt...
- Qajar DynastyQajar dynastyThe Qajar dynasty was an Iranian royal family of Turkic descent who ruled Persia from 1785 to 1925....
of Iran
External links
- The Qajar (Kadjar) Pages
- Qajars Dynasty Turkoman dynasty of the Shahs of Persia
Sources
- Daughter of Persia; Sattareh Farman FarmaianSattareh Farman FarmaianSattāreh Farmānfarmā'iān is one of the daughters of Persian nobleman Abdol Hossein Mirza Farmanfarma of the Qajar dynasty.Sattareh Farman-Farmaian, daughter of Abdol Hossein Mirza Farmanfarma , prince of the Qajar dynasty, and Massumeh , was born in Shiraz, Iran, in 1921, the fifteenth of...
with Dona Munker; Crown Publishers, Inc.,New York,1992 - Blood and Oil: Memoirs of a Persian Prince, Manucher Mirza Farman FarmaianManucher Mirza Farman FarmaianPrince Manucher Mirza was born in Tehran in 1917. He was the sixth son of Prince Abdol Hossein Mirza Farmanfarma and of Batoul Khanoum.He studied petroleum engineering at Birmingham University in England before returning to Iran...
Random House, New York, 1997.