Mohammad-Ali Foroughi

Mohammad Ali Foroughi Zoka-ol-Molk (1877 - 1942) (Persian: محمدعلی فروغی ذكاءالملك) was a teacher, diplomat, writer, politician and Prime Minister of Iran. He was born to a family from Isfahan and studied at the élite Dar ul-Funun (House of Sciences) in Tehran. In 1907 he became the dean of the College of Political Sciences.

In 1909 Foroughi entered politics as a member of Majlis (Parliament), representing Tehran. He subsequently became speaker of the house and later minister in several cabinets as well as prime minister three times and once as the acting prime minister when Reza Khan resigned as prime minister to take up the crown as Reza Shah. In 1912 he became the president of the Iranian Supreme Court.

As Prime Minister, Foroughi was instrumental in having Mohammad Reza Pahlavi proclaimed as king after his father, Reza Shah, was forced to abdicate (September 16, 1941) and exiled by the allied forces of the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union during World War II. After the collapse of his cabinet he was named Minister of Court and then named ambassador of Iran to the United States of America, but he died in Tehran at the age of 65 before he could assume the post. Foroughi is known to have been a freemason.

Books

Foroughi wrote numerous books, including

The History of Iran,

The History of the Ancient Peoples of The East,

A Short History of Ancient Rome,

Constitutional Etiquette,

A Concise Course in Physics,

Far-fetched Thoughts,

The Wisdom of Socrates,

The History of Philosophy in Europe,

My Message to the Academy of Language (Farhangestan),

The Rules of Oratory or The Technique of Speech Making,

a book on the Shahnameh (The Book of Kings).

In addition to this, he prepared scholarly editions of the works of Saadi, Hafez, Rumi, Omar Khayyam and Ferdowsi.

His son Mohsen Foroughi was a renowned architect who completed his studies in France and designed Niavarān Palace Complex, which is situated in the northern part of Tehran, Iran. It consists of several buildings and a museum. The Sahebqraniyeh Palace of the time of Nasir al-Din Shah of Qajar dynasty is also inside this complex. The main Niavaran Palace, completed in 1968, was the primary residence of the last Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and the Imperial family until the Iranian Revolution.Franz Malekebrahimian worked directly under Mohsen Foruoghi in implementation and maintenance of the Palace.

Notes

References

• 'Alí Rizā Awsatí (عليرضا اوسطى), Iran in the past three centuries (Irān dar Se Qarn-e Goz̲ashteh - ايران در سه قرن گذشته), Volumes 1 and 2 (Paktāb Publishing - انتشارات پاکتاب, Tehran, Iran, 2003). ISBN 964-93406-6-1 (Vol. 1), ISBN 964-93406-5-3 (Vol. 2).

External links

• A short motion picture of Mohammad-Ali Foroughi, from the film archives of Anoshirvan Sepahbodi, Geneva, 1931: YouTube.

See also

• Pahlavi Dynasty
• List of Prime Ministers of Iran
• Abdolhossein Teymourtash
• Ali Akbar Davar
• Sayyed Hasan Taqizadeh