Kamil Chadirji
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Kamil Chadirji (1897–1968, ar, عمران كامل), also spelled Kamil al-Chadirji or Kamel al-Chaderji, was an Iraqi politician, photographer, lawyer, activist, and founder of the National Democratic Party in
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
. He served as a member of the
Chamber of Deputies of Iraq The Chamber of Deputies of Iraq (''Majlis an-Nuwwab'') was the elected lower house of the bicameral parliament established by the Mandatory Iraq's 1925 constitution. There were initially 87 deputies, who were elected The Chamber of Deputies remain ...
in the 1920s and 1950s. He was the father of notable modernist architect, Rifat Chadirji and political leader, Naseer al-Chaderchi. He is noted for founding the National Democratic Party with a left-wing program and was an influential political figure in political life who opposed the monarchy and pursued a social reform agenda.


Early life

Chadirji was born in
Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
to its mayor. His family was a part of the aristocracy, with roots in Anatolia. Chaderji's father played an important role in democratic reform before British rule. During the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, he served in the Ottoman Army. When the British took over Iraq as
Mandatory Iraq The Kingdom of Iraq under British Administration, or Mandatory Iraq ( ar, الانتداب البريطاني على العراق '), was created in 1921, following the 1920 Iraqi Revolt against the proposed British Mandate of Mesopotamia, an ...
, Chadirji's family escaped to Istanbul, with Chadirji himself enrolling in the medical school there. He never graduated, and instead returned to Baghdad in 1922, following the establishment of the
Kingdom of Iraq The Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq ( ar, المملكة العراقية الهاشمية, translit=al-Mamlakah al-ʿIrāqiyyah ʾal-Hāshimyyah) was a state located in the Middle East from 1932 to 1958. It was founded on 23 August 1921 as the Kingdo ...
. He earned a law degree in 1925 and worked for the Municipality of Baghdad as well as for the Department of Finance, working in education.


Political career


Kingdom of Iraq

In 1925, Chadirji's reformist ideas drew him to the newly formed People's Party (Hizb al-Shab), which he joined. He joined the
Ahali group The al-Ahali Group ( ar, مجموعة الاهالي ) was a political association formed in 1930 by a collection of non-sectarian, middle class Iraqi youth frustrated with the Iraqi monarchy. Although it was not an official party, it was a succe ...
, and was elected to parliament in 1927, becoming the minister of works from 1936 to 1937 under Bakr Sidqi and
Hikmat Sulayman Hikmat Sulayman (1889 – 16 June 1964) ( ar, حكمت سليمان) was prime minister of Iraq from October 30, 1936 to August 12, 1937 at the head of a Party of National Brotherhood government. Sulayman, of Iraqi Arab, Circassianİsmail Hâm ...
's government, resigning in protest against army interference in the government. In 1930, Chadirji, as a member of the National Party (also known as the Ahali group), worked together with Rashid Ali,
Hikmat Sulayman Hikmat Sulayman (1889 – 16 June 1964) ( ar, حكمت سليمان) was prime minister of Iraq from October 30, 1936 to August 12, 1937 at the head of a Party of National Brotherhood government. Sulayman, of Iraqi Arab, Circassianİsmail Hâm ...
and Yasin al-Hashimi, the leaders of the newly created National Fraternity Party (Hizb al-Ikha al-Watani). The National Party and the National Fraternity Party issued the Coalition "Fraternal" Communique on November 23, 1930. The party was not much of an organized and legitimate political party, instead serving as an opposition from powerful Iraqi political figures to the British. Its ideals were "Immediate independence for Iraq, the evacuation of British troops, and the development of a democratic and participatory Iraqi state," and they pushed their message through their Baghdad newspaper, ''al-Bilad'' (The Country). In 1946, Chadirji, along with other left-wing "intelligentsia" types of the landed urban bourgeoisie (the dominant tendency in these isolated urban middle and upper-class communities) organized themselves into the National Democratic Party. Previously, Chadirji and his group, made of Ahali reformists, had joined the
Comintern The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet Union, Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to ...
in 1935 at the Seventh Comintern Congress in
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
. Chadirji was moderately anti-
Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...
and advocated for strengthening the
Arab League The Arab League ( ar, الجامعة العربية, ' ), formally the League of Arab States ( ar, جامعة الدول العربية, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world, which is located in Northern Africa, Western Africa, E ...
. In 1937, while serving as Economic Minister under the government of
Hikmat Sulayman Hikmat Sulayman (1889 – 16 June 1964) ( ar, حكمت سليمان) was prime minister of Iraq from October 30, 1936 to August 12, 1937 at the head of a Party of National Brotherhood government. Sulayman, of Iraqi Arab, Circassianİsmail Hâm ...
, Chadirji held talks with Zionist emissaries. He expressed his sympathies to the Zionist movement and his desire to reach a cooperative agreement for them. However, with the Palestinian question becoming important in Iraq towards the mid-1940s, the NDP increased its Palestine-related activity. In 1946, the Ahali Group's newspaper ''Sawt al-Ahali'' published editorials against the partition of Palestine and the creation of Israel. The NDP and other parties (including Jews), especially the
Iraqi Independence Party The Iraqi Independence Party ( ar, حزب الاستقلال العراقي, ''Hizb al-Istiqlal al-Iraqi'') was an Iraqi nationalist political party founded in December 1945 that supported the independence of Iraq from British colonialism.Ghareeb ...
, created the Committee for the Defense of Palestine, which organized protests in front of the American and British embassies, as well as calling for a general strike in May 1946 against Western pressure on Palestine. When the
Arab-Israeli War The Arab citizens of Israel are the largest ethnic minority in the country. They comprise a hybrid community of Israeli citizens with a heritage of Palestinian citizenship, mixed religions (Muslim, Christian or Druze), bilingual in Arabic an ...
started in 1948, Chadirji wrote and published a front-page editorial for ''Sawt al-Ahali'' titled ''Palestine'', which called for Arab countries to come together to defend Palestine. The NDP suspended their activities voluntarily in 1948, but resumed in 1950. Due to Chadirji's will to redistribute income and achieve a more political society, he was imprisoned 2 times in the 1950s. He was sympathetic to pan-Arab ideas. ''Sawt al-Ahali'' also served as an opposition mouthpiece. In 1949, Prime Minister
Nuri al-Said Nuri Pasha al-Said CH (December 1888 – 15 July 1958) ( ar, نوري السعيد) was an Iraqi politician during the British mandate in Iraq and the Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq. He held various key cabinet positions and served eight terms a ...
had had enough of ''Sawt al-Ahali'' and its attacks, so he filed a court case against Chadirji. Chadirji arrived at the courthouse accompanied by 21 defense lawyers. Inside the court, he lectured the prosecution and the judge on democratic values. The proceedings were published in ''Sawt al-Ahali'', and Chadirji was sentenced to 6 months of hard labor. However, the defense appealed the court ruling, and it was taken back by the court. The NDP helped organized demonstrations in 1948 against the
Anglo-Iraqi Treaty The Anglo-Iraqi Treaty of October 1922 was an agreement signed between the British and Iraqi governments. The treaty was designed to allow for Iraqi self-government while giving the British control of Iraq's foreign policy. It was intended to co ...
(also known as the ''Portsmouth Treaty''). On January 21, the Regent of Iraq called the leaders of the parties involved in the protests to a meeting at the palace. Chadirji explained that the people of Iraq wanted the new, finished constitution to be implemented, and additionally demanded the full freedoms "of the press, association and opinion... and you in your capacity as the defender of the constitution must penalize the government when it behaves nti-democratically"Dawisha, Adeed. “Democratic Attitudes and Practices in Iraq, 1921–1958.” Middle East Journal, vol. 59, no. 1, 2005, pp. 11–30. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4330094. Accessed January 15, 2020. In 1949, Syrian foreign minister
Nazim al-Kudsi Nazim al-Qudsi ( ar, ناظم القدسي, Nāẓim al-Qudsī or Nadhim Al-Kudisi; 14 February 1906 – 6 February 1998), was a Syrian politician who served as President of Syria from 14 December 1961 to 8 March 1963. Early life and education ...
informed other Arab countries of Syria's desire for federation. Chadirji was skeptical of this proposal, and, as he states in his memoirs, many members of the Iraqi opposition hoped for a collapse of the talks since, if successful, they would strengthen
Nuri al-Said Nuri Pasha al-Said CH (December 1888 – 15 July 1958) ( ar, نوري السعيد) was an Iraqi politician during the British mandate in Iraq and the Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq. He held various key cabinet positions and served eight terms a ...
and the Sharifian elites. After the war, Chadirji focused on trying to unite parties into a grand coalition to oppose the monarchy's authoritarianism. Seeing as the Al-Wathbah uprising of 1948 and the
Iraqi Intifada The Iraqi Intifada (Arabic: انتفاضة العراق) was a series of national strikes and violent protests against the ruling Hashemite monarchy and the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty. Inspired by the Egyptian Revolution and Iranian Prime Minister Moha ...
of 1952 had failed, he realized that one party was not enough to bring about sufficient change. His efforts ended in the creation of the ''National Electoral Front'' (''al-Jabha al-Intikhabiya al-Wataniya''), consisting of the NDP, the
Iraqi Communist Party The Iraqi Communist Party ( ar, الحزب الشيوعي العراقي '; ku, Partiya Komunista Iraqê حزبی شیوعی عێراق) is a communist party and the oldest active party in Iraq. Since its foundation in 1934, it has dominated the ...
, and other parties (only 2 groups in the National Front were legal parties), which contested the June 1954 elections, winning 10 out of 135 seats. Chadirji continued to push his anti-British ideals. In August 1958, he met British Oriental Counselor
Samuel Falle Sir Samuel Falle (19 February 1919 – 20 February 2014) was a British diplomat and decorated Royal Navy officer. He served as Ambassador to Kuwait and Sweden, and High Commissioner to Singapore and Nigeria. Career Falle was educated at Victoria ...
, and told him about the Arab perspective of events in the Middle East. Chadirji talked about the inclination of Arab countries to the Soviet Union, their suspicion at American troops in Lebanon, and their perceived threat of British forces in Jordan. He recommended that Britain withdraw from Jordan and allow a plebiscite to happen to decide its fate. However, this talk worked largely in the opposite direction.


After the Revolution

Following Abd al-Karim Qasim's
14 July Revolution The 14 July Revolution, also known as the 1958 Iraqi coup d'état, took place on 14 July 1958 in Iraq, and resulted in the overthrow of the Hashemite monarchy in Iraq that had been established by Faisal I of Iraq, King Faisal I in 1921 under the ...
in 1958, the Iraqi monarchy was abolished. Chadirji was supportive of the revolution. The new regime pushed a message of authority and national legitimacy. The NDP chose to align more with the Communists rather than the pan-Arab parties to the right, even though the NDP was a bourgeois party and the ICP represented the working class. After the Revolution, they formed an immediate alliance with the Communists, but a stable coalition was not achieved, as the alliance came under constant attacks from Ba'athists and Nasserists. The NDP was weakened first, and then the ICP. Chadirji disliked Qasim's politics – he believed that Qasim had no real political convictions, and likened him to a rope-dancer, who would "swing from one ideology to another to remain in power" just like a rope-dancer would swing from side to side to remain balanced. In 1963, Chadirji, with the NDP now dissolved, sent a memorandum to Iraqi Field Marshal Abdel-Salam Aref, calling for
democracy in Iraq Democracy for the government of Iraq has been a long sought after goal by politicians, activists, and revolutionaries. It is considered to be a new, "fledgeling process" or phenomenon in Iraq, commonly afflicted by corruption, civil and ethnic con ...
. On February 2, 1968, Chadirji died at the age of 71 from a heart attack. At about the same time, the NDP called for the signing of a "revolutionary covenant" to oppose the Ba'ath regime and create a popular democratic one.


Private life

He was an enthusiastic amateur photographer. After retiring, he travelled across Iraq photographing street life, buildings, historic monuments. He and his son, Rifat, were afraid that Iraq would lose its historic and vernacular architecture as the country embarked on a program of “modernisation” and sought to document what might be lost forever. His son, Rifat, later recalled travelling around the country with his father taking photographs of the people, their culture and their buildings in an effort to preserve Iraq's culture and history that was in danger of being lost as Iraq on a program of modernisation. Rifat Chadirji explained his father's interest in photography, "His early cameras were the large type that required a particular kind of knowledge in order to operate. He had a bunch of books in his library on how to use a camera. He had several cameras, some of which were the old bulky kind, in which he had to stick his head under a leather cover. Then the new cameras became available, and he bought a small Contax. He developed his own photographs in a dark room at our house. No one in our family, or our friends, had a camera back then. My father was the only one with a camera, going around Baghdad and the rest of Iraq, photographing markets, crafts, and other things. It used to be a hobby that he enjoyed on his own, as his politician friends did not share the same interest. He bought me a small camera when I was in primary school. He guided me through the process and taught me how to take good photographs.


Legacy

Following his death, a collection of his photographic negatives was found in a tin box, allowing his son, Rifat Chadirji to publish a book of his photographs. The book documents the built environment, daily life, cultural engagement, and social conditions in the Middle East from the 1920s – 1940s.


References


External links


Iraq's First Social Democrat , Mena – Gulf News
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chadirji, Kamil 1897 births 1968 deaths Iraqi politicians National Democratic Party (Iraq) politicians Political activists History of Iraq History of Iraq (1958–present)