Jafar Sharif-Imami ( fa, جعفر شریف‌امامی; 17 June 1912 – 16 June 1998) was an

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

politician who was

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

from 1960 to 1961 and again in 1978. He was a cabinet minister, president of the

Iranian Senate , native_name_lang = , transcription_name = , legislature = , coa_pic = , coa_res = , coa_alt = , coa_caption = , logo_pic = , logo_res = , logo_alt = ...

, president of the Pahlavi Foundation and the president of the Iran chamber of industries and mines during the reign of Shah

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Mohammad Reza Pahlavi ( fa, محمدرضا پهلوی, ; 26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980), also known as Mohammad Reza Shah (), was the last ''Shah'' (King) of the Imperial State of Iran from 16 September 1941 until his overthrow in the Irani ...

Early life and education

Sharif-Emami was born in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the Capital city, 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 th ...

on 17 June 1912 to a clerical family and his father was a mullah. After high school, Sharif-Emami was sent (along with thirty other young men) to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

where he studied for eighteen months, returning to Iran in 1930 to work with state railroad organization until the Anglo-Soviet Invasion. Years later he was sent to Sweden for technical training, returning in 1939 when he received a degree in engineering.

Career and activities

Sharif-Emami began his career at the Iranian state railways in 1931. Arrested in summer of 1943 for alleged ties to Germany he was kept in detention along with many other members of Iran's elite. After his release he was appointed director-general of the Irrigation Agency. In 1950, he was appointed undersecretary of roads and communications. Prime Minister and General Haj Ali Razmara appointed him acting minister and then minister of roads to his

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

inaugurated in June 1950, his first cabinet post. He served as the minister of industries and mines in

Manuchehr Eqbal Manouchehr Eghbal ( fa, منوچهر اقبال; 13 October 1909 – 25 November 1977) was an Iranian physician and royalist politician. He was the Prime Minister of Iran from 1957 to 1960. Early life and education Eghbal was born in 1909, and h ...

's cabinet.'Alí Rizā Awsatí. (2003).''Iran in the Past Three Centuries'' (''Irān dar Se Qarn-e Goz̲ashteh'' - ايران در سه قرن گذشته), Paktāb Publishing - Tehran, Iran. (Vol. 1), (Vol. 2). He was prime minister from 1960 to 1961, and again in 1978, a few months before the overthrow of the Shah. He was appointed prime minister by Shah on 27 August 1978 because of his ties to clergy. Sharif-Emami succeeded

Jamshid Amouzegar Jamshid Amouzegar ( fa, جمشید آموزگار‎; 25 June 1923 – 27 September 2016) was an Iranian economist and politician who was prime minister of Iran from 7 August 1977 to 27 August 1978 when he resigned. Prior to that, he served as ...

in the post. Sharif-Emami resigned from the office on 5 November 1978 and was replaced by Gholam Reza Azhari in the post. During his short tenure, he undid many of the Shah's plans including the closing of casinos, abandoning the Imperial calendar, abolishing the Rastakhiz Party and allowing all political parties to be active and personally responsible for preventing SAVAK to get involved and preventing the KGB backed clergyman from creating and continuing the 1979 revolution. All of his efforts to reform the political system in Iran, was overshadowed by the Black Friday massacre in Jaleh Square on 8 September 1978, mass protests, martial law and nationwide strikes, which brought the country's economy to its knees. He resigned from office amid riots on 5 November 1978. Sharif-Emami was also long-time president of the

Iranian Senate , native_name_lang = , transcription_name = , legislature = , coa_pic = , coa_res = , coa_alt = , coa_caption = , logo_pic = , logo_res = , logo_alt = ...

and chairman of the Pahlavi Foundation. He was one of the close confidants of the Shah.

Personal life

Sharif-Emami was married and had three children, two daughters and a son. For some years he was also the Grand Master of the Freemason

Grand Lodge A Grand Lodge (or Grand Orient or other similar title) is the overarching governing body of a fraternal or other similarly organized group in a given area, usually a city, state, or country. In Freemasonry A Grand Lodge or Grand Orient is the us ...

of Iran, which gave him some informal influence among Iran's political elite.

Later years and death

Sharif-Emami left Iran following the

Islamic revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...

in 1979. He settled in the

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street (Manhattan), 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street (Man ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. There he served as the president of the Pahlavi Foundation and later resigned from the post. He died at a hospital on 16 June 1998, one day shy of his 86th birthday, in New York City. He was buried in Valhalla, New York.

References

External links