Prince Firouz Nosrat-ed-Dowleh III,
GCMG
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III.
It is named in honour ...
(1889–1937) was the eldest son of Prince
Abdol-Hossein Farmanfarma
Prince Abdol-Hossein Farman Farma ( fa, عبدالحسین فرمانفرما 1857 – November, 1939) was one of the most prominent Qajar princes, and one of the most influential politicians of his time in Persia. He was born in Tehran to P ...
and Princess Ezzat-ed-Dowleh Qajar. He was born in 1889 and died in April 1937. He was the grandson of his namesake,
Nosrat Dowleh Firouz Mirza
Firouz Mirza Nosrat ed-Dowleh (1818 – January 1886''Shahzdeh’s Tree, A family Genealogy of Abdol Hossein Mirza Farman Farma.''
Mitra Farman Farmaian Jordan, 1997, Universal Printing, Seattle. Pages 30 and 32.) Persian prince of Qajar dynas ...
, and of
Mozzafar-al-Din Shah
Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar ( fa, مظفرالدین شاه قاجار, Mozaffar ad-Din Ŝāh-e Qājār; 23 March 1853 – 3 January 1907), was the fifth shah of Qajar Iran, reigning from 1896 until his death in 1907. He is often credited with t ...
Qajar
Qajar Iran (), also referred to as Qajar Persia, the Qajar Empire, '. Sublime State of Persia, officially the Sublime State of Iran ( fa, دولت علیّه ایران ') and also known then as the Guarded Domains of Iran ( fa, ممالک م ...
through his mother, Princess Ezzat-Dowleh.
Biography
Records are unclear, but the prince is said to have been born around 1889. He was educated at the
American University of Beirut
The American University of Beirut (AUB) ( ar, الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, aut ...
and at the
Sorbonne
Sorbonne may refer to:
* Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities.
*the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970)
*one of its components or linked institution, ...
in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. He spoke five languages (Persian, French, English, Russian, and German) and attended
Lycee Janson de Sailly
In France, secondary education is in two stages:
* ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15.
* ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...
in Paris and
Institut Le Rosey
Institut Le Rosey (), commonly referred to as Le Rosey or simply Rosey, is a private boarding school in Rolle, Switzerland. Founded in 1880 by Paul-Émile Carnal on the site of the 14th-century Château du Rosey in the town of Rolle in the canto ...
in Switzerland. As surnames had not been established in Persia at the time of his studies in France, he registered himself as "Firouz Firouz", using his grandfather's name as his surname. Afterwards, when the Persian government made surnames mandatory by law, his father Prince
Abdol-Hossein Farmanfarma
Prince Abdol-Hossein Farman Farma ( fa, عبدالحسین فرمانفرما 1857 – November, 1939) was one of the most prominent Qajar princes, and one of the most influential politicians of his time in Persia. He was born in Tehran to P ...
picked the surname
Farmanfarmaian for himself and his children. However, three of his children – Nosrat-ed-Dowleh, one of his 23 brothers (also a son of Princess Ezzat-ed-Dowleh), and one of his 12 sisters (daughter of Princess Ahshami) – held on to the surname "Firouz" and became known as Firouz Firouz, Mohammad Hossein Firouz, and
Maryam Firouz
Maryam Firouz or Maryam Farman Farmaian (1914, in Kermanshah, Iran – 23 March 2008, in Tehran, Iran) was an Iranian politician. She was a daughter of Prince Abdol Hossein Mirza Farmanfarma and Batoul Khanoum. She founded the women's section of t ...
, respectively.
Nosrat-ed-Dowleh was Minister of Foreign Affairs under
Ahmad Shah Qajar
Ahmad Shah Qajar ( fa, احمد شاه قاجار; 21 January 1898 – 21 February 1930) was Shah of Persia (Iran) from 16 July 1909 to 15 December 1925, and the last ruling member of the Qajar dynasty.
Ahmad Shah was born in Tabriz on 21 Janu ...
; architect of the ill-fated
Anglo-Persian Agreement
The Anglo-Persian Agreement involved Great Britain and Persia, and centered on the drilling rights of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. The "agreement" was issued by British Foreign Secretary, Lord Curzon, to the Persian government in August 1919. ...
(1919);
[Brigadier-General Sir Percy Sykes. ]
A history of Persia
', Vol. II. Macmillan 1921, page 520. and a candidate for accession to the Qajar throne after Soltan Ahmad Shah's exile and removal. In 1921, during the coup which brought
Reza Shah
Reza Shah Pahlavi ( fa, رضا شاه پهلوی; ; originally Reza Khan (); 15 March 1878 – 26 July 1944) was an Iranian Officer (armed forces), military officer, politician (who served as Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics (Iran), ...
to power, he spent three months in the
Qasr-e-Qajar jail with his father and younger brother, Abbas Mirza Salar Lashgar, while Reza Shah consolidated his power base. During his stay at the prison, which he had helped build, he often boasted about its cleanliness. Nosrat-ed-Dowleh also translated Oscar Wilde's ''
De Profundis'' during this time. Following his release, he continued his public life for nine more years, serving as a member of parliament, provincial governor, minister of justice, and minister of finance.
In June 1930, while he was Finance Minister for Reza Shah, the Shah had him arrested for accepting a bribe in the amount of five hundred tomans (about 100 dollars today). This episode deeply alarmed Nosrat-ed-Dowleh's father, Abdol Hossein Mirza Farmanfarma, who warned his son to curb his extravagant princely lifestyle. The warnings were not heeded. Towards the end of 1936, Reza Shah had grown more tyrannical and unpredictable than in the past. Eventually, Nosrat-ed-Dowleh was arrested by the
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
police chief, Mokhtari, and held in a Tehran prison. Despite pleas from the Farmanfarma family, he was not released, but instead transferred to a guarded house in
Semnan, a village about eighty miles east of
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
, where he was held incommunicado. In 1937, news returned to Nosrat-ed-Dowleh's father that his son was dead. The Shah had ordered that he be buried without any ceremonies or mention in the press. Abdol Hossein Mirza Farmanfarma ensured that his son was buried in the Shrine of Shah Abdol Azim, where many other leading personalities of the Qajar dynasty had been buried. Not long after Nosrat-ed-Dowleh's death, Reza Shah seized his compound.
It was eventually revealed that he had been killed in his room by strangulation under the supervision of a doctor named Ahmadi. In 1940, after Reza Shah abdicated in favour of his son, the courts found Dr. Ahmadi guilty of killing dozens of political prisoners and sentenced him to death by hanging. Mokhtari was sentenced to a long prison term.
Honors
*
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III.
It is named in honour ...
, 1919
Government positions held
* Governor of
Kerman
Kerman ( fa, كرمان, Kermân ; also romanization of Persian, romanized as Kermun and Karmana), known in ancient times as the satrapy of Carmania, is the capital city of Kerman Province, Iran. At the 2011 census, its population was 821,394, in ...
, 1907
* Minister of Justice (1st time), 1916–1917
* Governor of
Hamadan
Hamadan () or Hamedan ( fa, همدان, ''Hamedān'') ( Old Persian: Haŋgmetana, Ecbatana) is the capital city of Hamadan Province of Iran. At the 2019 census, its population was 783,300 in 230,775 families. The majority of people living in Ha ...
and
Kermanshah
Kermanshah ( fa, کرمانشاه, Kermânšâh ), also known as Kermashan (; romanized: Kirmaşan), is the capital of Kermanshah Province, located from Tehran in the western part of Iran. According to the 2016 census, its population is 946,68 ...
, 1918
* Minister of Justice (2nd time), 1918–1919
* Minister for Foreign Affairs, 1919–1921
* Governor-General of
Fars 1923–1924
* Minister of Justice (3rd time), 1925
* Minister for Finance, 1927–1929
* Deputy for Kermanshah in the 4th, 5th and 6th
Majles
The Islamic Consultative Assembly ( fa, مجلس شورای اسلامی, Majles-e Showrā-ye Eslāmī), also called the Iranian Parliament, the Iranian Majles (Arabicised spelling Majlis) or ICA, is the national legislative body of Iran. The Pa ...
See also
*
History of Persia
The history of Iran is intertwined with the history of a larger region known as Greater Iran, comprising the area from Anatolia in the west to the borders of Ancient India and the Syr Darya in the east, and from the Caucasus and the Eurasian Step ...
*
History of Iran
The history of Iran is intertwined with the history of a larger region known as Greater Iran, comprising the area from Anatolia in the west to the borders of Ancient India and the Syr Darya in the east, and from the Caucasus and the Eurasian S ...
*
Qajar dynasty
The Qajar dynasty (; fa, دودمان قاجار ', az, Qacarlar ) was an IranianAbbas Amanat, ''The Pivot of the Universe: Nasir Al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831–1896'', I. B. Tauris, pp 2–3 royal dynasty of Turkic peoples ...
of Iran
* Abdolhossein
Teymourtash
Abdolhossein Teymourtash ( fa, عبدالحسین تیمورتاش; 25 September 1883 – 3 October 1933) was an influential Iranian statesman who served as the first minister of court of the Pahlavi dynasty from 1925 to 1932, and is credited ...
External links
Biography(PDF; English; 596 kB)
The Qajar (Kadjar) Pages
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Firouz, Nosrat-ed-Dowleh
1889 births
1937 deaths
Foreign ministers of Iran
Iranian expatriates in France
Iranian expatriates in Lebanon
Iranian expatriates in Switzerland
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
Politicians from Tehran
Qajar princes
Reformers' Party politicians
Revival Party politicians
Ministers of Justice of Iran
Farmanfarmaian family