George Malek-Yonan
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George Malek-Yonan is an Assyrian international attorney, politician and champion athlete.
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[edit] Biography
A descendent of the Malek Family [1] from Geogtapah, Urmia in northwestern Iran, George Malek-Yonan comes from one of the most prominent Assyrian families, tracing his roots back eleven centuries. During the Assyrian Genocide of 1914-1918, Malek-Yonan’s family fled to Baghdad during the Great Exodus from Urmia where he was born on 11 October 1924. When still a young child, his family migrated back to Iran and settled in Tehran. His parents were Yosip (Joseph) and Suriya both Assyrian. His older sister, Florence was Knighted in the 70’s and lived in Switzerland where she passed away on 18 February 2007. His older brother, David was a renowned engineer in Iran who built many of Iran’s major freeways and roadways as well as numerous silo’s in Russia. His younger brother, Cyrus, left Iran for England when he was only seventeen to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London and finally settled in Paris.
Malek-Yonan married Lida [2] in Tehran in 1950 and has two daughters, Rosie Malek-Yonan, the author of The Crimson Field and Monica Malek-Yonan the editor of the book.
Malek-Yonan's great uncle, Dr. Jesse Malek-Yonan represented the Assyrians of Urmia at the Paris Peace talks in 1919.
Malek-Yonan studied at Tehran University earning a Law Degree in 1946 and a degree in Political Science in 1947. In 1964 he studied law at Golden Gate Law School in San Francisco, California. He practiced international law for more than fifty years representing many of the American, European and Asian corporations in Iran. He was the attorney for the U.S. Embassy in Tehran during the American hostage takeover. He moved to the U.S. after the Iranian Revolution.
[edit] Sports
Three gold medals from 1949 to 1951 presented by the former Shah of Iran [3], earned George Malek-Yonan the title of Champion of Champions in Iranian Sports in the fields of track and field, pentathlon and soccer bringing the total of medals awarded to him to 47.
His brother, David, was also awarded numerous gold medals.
[edit] Politics
A leading international attorney, George Malek-Yonan was personally responsible for procuring a seat for Assyrians as a recognized minority in the Iranian Parliament, thus giving Assyrians and Chaldeans a political voice in Iran to date. This was a great accomplishment for a nation that has been without a country for more than 2,600 years.
