Ali Amini
{{short description|Iranian politician (1905–1992)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Ali Amini
| native_name = {{No bold|{{Script/Nastaliq|علی امینی}}}}
| native_name_lang = fa
| image = Ali Amini Portrait (cropped).jpg
| birth_date = 12 September 1905
| death_date = {{death date and age|1992|12|12|1905|12|12|df=y}}
| order = 34th
| office = Prime Minister of Iran
| term_start = 5 May 1961
| term_end = 19 July 1962
| monarch = Mohammad Reza Shah
| predecessor = Jafar Sharif-Emami
| successor = Asadollah Alam
| order1 = Ambassador of Iran to the United States
| term_start1 = 24 January 1956
| term_end1 = 22 May 1958
| monarch1 = Mohammad Reza Shah
| predecessor1 = Nasrollah Entezam
| successor1 = Ali Gholi Ardalan
| order2 = Minister of Justice
| term_start2 = 7 April 1955
| term_end2 = 24 January 1956
| primeminister2 = Hossein Ala
| order3 = Minister of Finance
| term_start3 = 19 August 1953
| term_end3 = 6 April 1955
| primeminister3 = Fazlollah Zahedi
| predecessor3 = Nezam-ed-din Emami
| successor3 = Nasrollah Jahangir
| order4 = Minister of Economy
| term_start4 = 5 August 1951
| term_end4 = 16 July 1952
| primeminister4 = Mohammad Mosaddegh
| predecessor4 = Shamseddin Amir-Alaei
| successor4 = Bagher Kazemi
| term_start5 = 23 March 1950
| term_end5 = 26 June 1950
| primeminister5 = Ali Mansur
| office6 = Member of the National Consultative Assembly
| term_start6 = 12 June 1947
| term_end6 = 28 July 1949
| constituency6 = Tehran
| party = {{plainlist|
- Saviour Front {{small|(1982–1986)}}
- Democrat Party {{small|(1946–1948)}}}}
| alma_mater = University of Grenoble
University of Paris
| spouse = {{marriage|Batoul Voosough|1932|1992|end=d.}}
| children = 1
| mother = Fakhr-ol-dowleh
| relatives = Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar (grandfather)
Vossug ed Dowleh (father-in-law)
}}
Ali Amini ({{langx|fa|علی امینی}}; 12 September 1905–12 December 1992) was an Iranian politician who was the Prime Minister of Iran from 1961 to 1962. He held several cabinet portfolios during the 1950s, and served as a member of parliament between 1947 and 1949.
Amini was widely regarded as "a protégé of the United States"{{cite book|editor-first1=P.|editor-last1=Avery|editor-first2=William|editor-last2=Bayne Fisher|editor-first3=G. R. G.|editor-last3=Hambly|editor-first4=C.|editor-last4=Melville|year=1990|title=The Cambridge History of Iran|volume=7|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521200950|page=275}} and a "pro-American liberal reformer".{{cite book|author=Parvin Paydar| title=Women and the Political Process in Twentieth-Century Iran|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=139|year=1995|isbn=978-0-521-59572-8}}
Early life and education
Amini was born on 12 September 1905 in Tehran. He was a grandson of Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar through his mother, Fakhr-ol-Dowleh.{{cite book|author=James A. Bill|title=The Eagle and the Lion. The Tragedy of American-Iranian Relations|date=1988|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven and London|isbn=978-0-300-04412-6|url=https://doi.org/10.12987/9780300159516-006|pages=107–108|doi=10.12987/9780300159516-006 |s2cid=246116954 }} His father was a significant statesman during the Qajar era, Mohsen Amin-ol-dowleh.
He completed his studies first in Dar ol-fonoon and then in France where he graduated with a degree in law from Grenoble University, followed by his PhD in economics from Paris. His PhD thesis was concerned with the foreign trade monopoly in Iran.{{cite thesis|author=Ehsanee Ian Sadr|title=To whisper in the king's ear: Economists in Pahlavi and Islamic Iran
|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1432765052|location=University of Maryland, College Park|page=36|degree=PhD
|date=2013|id={{ProQuest|1432765052}}}}
Upon his return to Iran, he was employed at the Ministry of Justice by Ali-Akbar Davar.
Career
{{See also|Cabinet of Ali Amini}}
Amini was a founding member of the Democrat Party of Iran, and entered the 15th term of parliament with the party's ticket.{{cite book|author=Abbas Milani|entry=Ali Amini|title=Eminent Persians: The Men and Women who Made Modern Iran, 1941-1979|volume=1|date=2008|publisher=Syracuse University Press|location=Syracuse, N.Y.|isbn=978-0815609070|pages=63–71}} His first ministerial portfolio was in the cabinet of Ali Mansur.
He served as a minister in the cabinet of Mohammad Mosaddegh, but broke away from Mosaddegh in July 1952. He was later regarded as a "traitor" by the National Front, because of his collaboration with the post-1953 Iranian coup d'état government.{{cite book|author=Barry Rubin|title=Paved with Good Intentions|year=1980|publisher=Penguin Books|location=New York |page=106|url=http://www.gloria-center.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Paved-with-Good-Intentions-final.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021121704/http://www.gloria-center.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Paved-with-Good-Intentions-final.pdf|archive-date=21 October 2013}} He became minister of economic affairs in the cabinet of Fazlollah Zahedi and remained in office until 1955. He was then appointed as the justice minister under Hossein Ala' in 1955.{{cite thesis|author1=Michael J. Willcocks|title=Agent or Client: Who Instigated the White Revolution of the Shah and the People in Iran, 1963?|url=https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/agent-or-client-who-instigated-the-white-revolution-of-the-shah-and-the-people-in-iran-1963(f1bdd6c7-ed4c-42cc-bcaf-2a2f0cde5e60).html|pages=49–50 |location=University of Manchester|degree=PhD|date=2015}} He was named the ambassador to the US in 1956 which he held until 1958.
His tendencies were pro-American to the extent that they made the Shah uncomfortable. Mohammad Reza Shah in particular distrusted Amini's popularity and friendship with then-senator John F. Kennedy. Therefore, his tenure ended in 1958.
In the 1950s, Amini was a candidate for the premiership. He was appointed prime minister in 1961. In July 1962, however, he was replaced by the Shah's close friend and a major Birjand landowner Asadollah Alam. In the late 1970s, Amini attempted a comeback into Iranian politics at the age of 70. He served as an advisor to the Shah during the final days of the Pahlavi dynasty.
Personal life
Amini married Batoul Voosough (died 1992) in 1932 and they had a son, Iraj.{{cite news|last=Moin|first=Baqer|title=Obituary: Ali Amini|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-ali-amini-1564084.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091216030809/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-ali-amini-1564084.html |archive-date=2009-12-16 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|access-date=2 August 2013|newspaper=The Independent|date=17 December 1992}} She was the daughter of Hasan Vosugh od-Dowleh whose brother was Ahmad Qavam.
Honours
Later years and death
In 1979 and following the Iranian Revolution, Amini moved to Paris, France. There he headed the Front for the Liberation of Iran, a monarchist opposition group. He complained about internal struggles among the exiled Iranian monarchists, saying "We're not even back in Tehran [and] they quarrel over the name of the country's future prime minister."{{cite news|title=Rivalry complicates Iranian exile struggle
|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/1986/0703/oiran2.html/(page)/2|access-date=4 August 2013|newspaper=The Christian Science Monitor|date=3 July 1986}} He wrote his biography published by Harvard University.
He died in Paris on 12 December 1992, aged 87. His body was buried in Passy Cemetery.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.fas.harvard.edu/%7eiohp/amini.html Transcript of Amini interview as part of Harvard Iranian Oral History Project directed by Habib Ladjevardi]
- {{Commons-inline}}
{{IranPMs|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amini, Ali}}
Category:20th-century Iranian politicians
Category:Politicians from Tehran
Category:Government ministers of Iran
Category:Ambassadors of Iran to the United States
Category:Prime ministers of Iran
Category:Exiles of the Iranian revolution in France
Category:Recipients of the Legion of Honour
Category:Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Category:Burials at Passy Cemetery
Category:Paris-Sorbonne University alumni
Category:Democrat Party of Iran politicians