Hassan Modarres
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Seyyed Hassan Modarres (Persian: سید حسن مدرس) (1870? - December 1, 1937), was an Persian/Iranian politician. He was among the founding members of the Reformist Party (hezb-e eslaah-talab) of the time, which was formed during the fourth national Majlis of Iran.
The sources disagree on his birthplace. Some mention that he was born in Shahreza, while others mention that he was born in a village named Sarābe-Kachou (سرابهکچو) near Ardestan, and that he moved to Shahreza when he was six. Having studied Islamic sciences in Isfahan and Najaf, Modarres turned to become a religious teacher in an Esfahan's madrasa. The name Modarres, that means "teacher", is because of his job there. In 1910, he was chosen by Najaf's cleric community and sent to Tehran to supervise the laws passed by the Majlis of Iran, to make sure they are not against the rules of sharia. Later, in 1914, he was elected as a Majlis representative of Tehran.
In 1916, during the World War I, he migrated to Iraq, Syria, and Turkey together with a handful of other politicians, and served as the Minister of Justice in a cabinet formed in exile by Nezam os-Saltaneh. After returning to Iran, he was elected in the Majlis elections a few more times.
Modarres has also fought against the presence of British forces in Persia.
Modarres strongly opposed Reza Shah Pahlavi in the plan for deposing the Qajar dynasty in 1925. A few years after an assassination attempt in November 1926, which Modarres survived, he was expelled to Khaf and then Kashmar, and was finally killed in a prison in 1937.
Ruhollah Khomeini, who later became the Supreme Leader of Iran after the Iranian Revolution, was among Modarres's students. A picture of Modarres appears on the Iranian 100 rial banknote.
[edit] Sources
- The Persian Encyclopedia's entry on Modarres.
- Mohammad Taghi Bahar, Taarikh-e Mokhtasar-e Ahzaab-e Siaasi-e Iraan (A Short History of Political Parties of Iran), Amirkabir, 1978.
- Yadegari, Amir Hossein (November 2005). "Siāsatmadār-e Dindār", Hamshahri-e Māh, Ābān 1384 A.P., page 4.
