Wikipedia

Alinaghi Alikhani

Alinaghi Alikhani (Persian: علینقی عالیخانی‎; 21 January 1929 – 25 June 2019) was an Iranian economist who held government posts in the 1960s and was the first minister of economy of Iran. He also served as the chancellor of Tehran University.

Alinaghi Alikhani
Chancellor of Tehran University
In office
1969–1971
Preceded byFazlollah Reza
Succeeded byHouchang Nahavandi
Minister of Economy
In office
19 February 1963 – 19 July 1969
Prime Minister
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byHushang Ansary
Minister of Industry and Commerce
In office
1963–1963
Prime MinisterAsadollah Alam
Personal details
Born21 January 1929
Khamseh, Zanjan Province, Pahlavi Iran
Died25 June 2019(2019-06-25) (aged 90)
Children4
ParentAbedin Khan (father)
ResidenceWashington DC
Alma mater

Early life and education edit

Alikhani was born in Khamseh, near Abhar, Zanjan Province, on 21 January 1929.[1] His father, Abedin Khan, was a Kazakh petty officer,[2] who later began to serve as the administrator of the lands in Khamseh and nearby areas owned by Reza Shah.[1] The family moved to a village, Varamin, near Tehran where Alikhani was raised.[1]

Alikhani graduated from Tehran University with a bachelor's degree in law in 1949.[1] During his studies at the university he was part of an anti-communism group.[1] He got a doctor of business administration in France.[2] He also received a PhD degree in economics from Paris University.[1][3] His thesis focused on the potential role of states in encouraging industrialisation.[4] While attending Paris University the Savak officials proposed him to join the organization which Alikhani accepted.[1]

Career edit

 
Alinaghi Alikhani (first row, far left) in the inauguration of Cabinet of Mansur on 7 March 1964

Alikhani returned to Iran in 1957[5] and started his career at the economic analysis department of Savak.[1][3] Next he worked at the National Oil Company and became a consultant to the Tehran Trade Chamber.[2] Alikhani was made the minister of industry and commerce in 1963.[6] Next he was named the minister of economy on 19 February 1963 when the ministry was first established.[4] In fact, Alikhani was asked to involve in the establishment of the ministry of economy transforming the ministry of industry and commerce.[3] The cabinet was headed by Prime Minister Asadollah Alam,[7] and Jahangir Tafazzoli recommended him to appoint Alikhani to the post.[5]

Like other senior officials of the period Alikhani was a supporter of the protectionism and the promotion of the private sector.[4] One of the significant events during his first ministerial term was a commercial agreement between Iran and European Economic Community signed in Brussels on 14 October 1963.[8] Alikhani served in the same post in the next cabinets led by two different prime ministers, Hassan Ali Mansour and Amir Abbas Hoveida.[9][10] When he was minister of economy Alikhani informed the Shah, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, about his half-brother Gholam Reza Pahlavi's illegal financial activities with the officials from an East European country.[11] He was in office until 19 July 1969 when he resigned from the post.[11][12] His successor as minister of economy was Hushang Ansary.[11][12] The reason for his resignation was the clash between the Shah and Alikhani due to the Shah's inclination to intervene in the economy and the regulation of prices.[13]

Alikhani's next post was the Chancellor of Tehran University to which he was appointed in 1969.[6][14] He held the post until 1971.[6][14] After his retirement from governmental roles Alikhani involved in business.[2] He also served as a board member of the royal organization of social welfare headed by Princess Ashraf Pahlavi.[15]

Books edit

Alikhani was the author of several books, including The Shah and I: The Confidential Diary of Iran's Royal Court, 1968-77 and Alam Diaries.[16][17]

Personal life and death edit

Alikhani met his future wife, a French women, in France during his graduate studies.[1] They had four children, three sons and a daughter.[1]

They were forced to leave Iran just after the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979.[1] Alikhani and his wife settled in Washington DC.[1] He died in June 2019.[9]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Abbas Milani (2008). Eminent Persians: The Men and Women who Made Modern Iran, 1941-1979. Vol. 1–2. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-8156-0907-0.
  2. ^ a b c d "Iran Oral and Visual History Project Vol 4; Economic and Security: The Memoirs of Ali Naghi Alikhani". Opars Books. Archived from the original on 16 June 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Ehsanee Ian Sadr (2013). To whisper in the king's ear: Economists in Pahlavi and Islamic Iran (PhD thesis). University of Maryland, College Park. p. 75. ProQuest 1432765052.
  4. ^ a b c Ramin Nassehi (2018). "Domesticating Cold War Economic Ideas: The Rise of Iranian Developmentalism in the 1950s and 1960s". In Roham Alvandi (ed.). The Age of Aryamer: Late Pahlavi Iran and Its Global Entanglements. London: Gingko. doi:10.2307/j.ctv7tq4nd.5. ISBN 9781909942196.
  5. ^ a b Gholam Reza Afkhami (2009). The Life and Times of the Shah. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. p. 317. ISBN 978-0-520-94216-5.
  6. ^ a b c "Interview with Alikhani, Ali Naghi: Tape 07" (Project material). Harvard University. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  7. ^ "Chronology September 16, 1962-March 15, 1963". The Middle East Journal. 17 (1–2): 113. Winter–Spring 1963. JSTOR 4323557.
  8. ^ "Commercial Agreement between European Economic Community and the Imperial Government of Iran". International Legal Materials. 3 (1): 63–64. 1964. doi:10.1017/s0020782900055911.
  9. ^ a b Hamid Kayhan (25 June 2019). "علینقی عالیخانی، وزیر اقتصاد هویدا، علم و منصور درگذشت رادیو". BBC (in Persian). Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  10. ^ "Chronology December 16, 1963 - March 15, 1964". The Middle East Journal. 18 (2): 218. 1964. JSTOR 4323704.
  11. ^ a b c Vali Nasr (February 2000). "Politics within the Late-Pahlavi State: The Ministry of Economy and Industrial Policy, 1963-69". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 32 (1): 105, 108. doi:10.1017/S0020743800021061. JSTOR 259537. S2CID 154803890.
  12. ^ a b "Chronology May 16, 1969-August 15, 1969". The Middle East Journal. 23 (4): 512. 1969. JSTOR 4324514.
  13. ^ Fakhreddin Azimi (2008). The Quest for Democracy in Iran: A Century of Struggle against Authoritarian Rule. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press. p. 193. ISBN 978-0-674-02778-7.
  14. ^ a b Mehrzad Boroujerdi (2020). "Rethinking the Legacy of Intellectual-Statesmen in Iran". In Ramin Jahanbegloo (ed.). Mapping the Role of Intellectuals in Iranian Modern and Contemporary History. London: Lexington Books. p. 120. ISBN 978-1-7936-0007-3.
  15. ^ "Ashraf Pahlavi". IICHS. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  16. ^ Bahman Amini (January 1993). "Book review". Middle Eastern Studies. 29 (1). JSTOR 4283547.
  17. ^ Ali Gheissari (2016). "Authorial Voices and the Sense of an Ending in Persian Diaries: Notes on Eʿtemād al-Saltaneh and ʿAlam". Iranian Studies. 49 (4): 696. doi:10.1080/00210862.2016.1142285. S2CID 163444354.

External links edit

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