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Abdol-Hossein Farman Farma Farmaian

Male 1859 - 1939  (80 years)    Has more than 100 ancestors and 63 descendants in this family tree.

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  • Name Abdol-Hossein Farman Farma Farmaian 
    Birth 1859 
    Gender Male 
    Death Nov 1939 
    Siblings 4 Siblings 
    Person ID I670782  Geneagraphie
    Last Modified 23 Nov 2009 

    Father Firouz Mirza,   b. 1818   d. 1886 (Age 68 years) 
    Mother Homa Khanoum   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Family ID F295203  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 1 Ezzat ed-Dowleh Mirza,   b. 1873   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Children 
    +1. Firouz Mirza Nosrat-ed-Dowleh Farman III Farmaian,   b. Abt 1889   d. Apr 1937 (Age 48 years)
    +2. Abbas Mirza Farman Farmaian,   b. 1890   d. 1935, Berlin, Brandenburg, Deutschland Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 45 years)
    +3. Mohammad Vali Mirza Farman Farmaian   d. Yes, date unknown
     4. Nezam-ed-Din Mirza Farman Farmaian   d. Yes, date unknown
     5. Mohammad Ja'ffar Mirza Farman Farmaian   d. Yes, date unknown
     6. Mohammad Hossein Mirza Firouz Farmaian   d. Yes, date unknown
    Family ID F295227  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 23 Nov 2009 

    Family 2 Mah Begom Khanoum   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Children 
     1. Bodagh Farman Farmaian   d. Yes, date unknown
    Family ID F295205  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 23 Nov 2009 

    Family 3 Masoumeh Khanoum   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Children 
     1. Sabar Mirza Farman Farmaian,   b. 1912   d. Yes, date unknown
     2. Jabbareh Farman Farmaian   d. Yes, date unknown
     3. Farough Farman Farmaian   d. Yes, date unknown
     4. Homeyra Farman Farmaian   d. Yes, date unknown
     5. Ghaffar Farman Farmaian   d. Yes, date unknown
     6. Soraya Farman Farmaian   d. Yes, date unknown
     7. Haroun-al-Rashid Farman Farmaian   d. Yes, date unknown
     8. Khorshid Farman Farmaian   d. Yes, date unknown
    Family ID F295231  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 23 Nov 2009 

    Family 4 Batoul Khanoum   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Children 
    +1. Maryam Farman Farmaian,   b. 1914, Tehran Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 23 Mar 2008 (Age 94 years)
     2. MehrMah Farman Farmaian   d. Yes, date unknown
    +3. Manucher Mirza Farman Farmaian,   b. 1917, Tehran Find all individuals with events at this locationd. Yes, date unknown
     4. Abdol-Aziz Mirza Farman Farmaian,   b. 1920, Shiraz Find all individuals with events at this locationd. Yes, date unknown
     5. Abol-Bashar Mirza Farman Farmaian   d. Yes, date unknown
     6. Leyla Farman Farmaian   d. Yes, date unknown
     7. Heideh Farman Farmaian   d. Yes, date unknown
     8. Cyrus Farman Farmaian   d. Yes, date unknown
     9. Abdol-Ali Mirza Farman Farmaian,   b. 1932   d. Yes, date unknown
    Family ID F295232  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 23 Nov 2009 

    Family 5 Fatemeh Khanoum   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Children 
     1. Mahsama Farman Farmaian   d. Yes, date unknown
     2. Jamshid Mirza Farman Farmaian   d. Yes, date unknown
     3. Kaveh Mirza Farman Farmaian   d. Yes, date unknown
     4. Ali Naghi Mirza Farman Farmaian   d. Yes, date unknown
     5. Alidad Mirza Farman Farmaian   d. Yes, date unknown
     6. Hafez Mirza Farman Farmaian   d. Yes, date unknown
    Family ID F295233  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 23 Nov 2009 

    Family 6 Hamdam Khanoum   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Children 
     1. Khodadad Mirza Farman Farmaian   d. Yes, date unknown
     2. Allah Verdi Mirza Farman Farmaian   d. Yes, date unknown
     3. Tari Verdi Mirza Farman Farmaian   d. Yes, date unknown
    Family ID F295252  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 23 Nov 2009 

    Family 7 Akhtar Zaman Khanoum   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Children 
     1. Karimdad Mirza Farman Farmaian   d. Yes, date unknown
    Family ID F295234  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 22 Nov 2009 

    Family 8 Batoul Khanoum (II)   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Children 
     1. Roudabeh Farman Farmaian   d. Yes, date unknown
    Family ID F295235  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 22 Nov 2009 

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  • Notes 
    • one of the most influential politicians of his time in Persia . He was born to Prince Nosrat Dowleh Firouz Mirza (circa) 1859, and died in November 1939 at the age of 80. He was the 16th grandson of the Qajar crown prince Abbas Mirza . He fathered 24 sons and 12 daughters by 8 wives. He lived to see four sons die within his lifetime.
      His youth was spent perfecting the arts of swordmanship, poetry, hunting, riding, calligraphy, ceremonial etiquette, and other subjects required of a Persian nobleman. He continued his education at the Austrian Military Academy in Tehran where he distinguished himself as a soldier and strategist. He also showed himself to be an enthusiastic builder of bridges and roads, with a very keen interest in new Western sciences and social improvements. By 1882, following his time in the academy, he reached the rank of colonel and took of the military units in the province of Kerman. Two years later in 1884, he was re-assigned to Iranian Azarbaijan where he became the Commander of the Qarasuran Corps (Gendarmerie and Security Administration). In 1886, Abdol Hossein Mirza's father died. In recognition of his distinguished military service, he is awarded the title of "Amir Tooman" in 1887. Shortly afterwards he married Princess Ezzat-Dowleh, daughter of the king and his first of four wives, in 1888. At the time he was approximately thirty years old. Following the marriage, and out of respect for Ezzat-Dowleh and also due to her high social rank, he took no other wives for the next twenty years. During part of this time he served as Commander in Chief of the Army in Azarbaijan, Governor of Kerman (twice), Governor of Kurdistan, Governor of Fars, Governor of Kermanshah, and Governor of Azarbaijan. In his capacity as governor he founded one of Iran's first secular schools for girls.

      In 1899, due to the intrigues of the Mozzafar-al-Din Shah 's entourage he was exiled to Baghdad in Ottoman Mesopotamia. His wife Princess Ezzat-Dowleh (Mozafar din Shah's daughter), voluntarily fled with him into exile and stayed with him for five years. She was then able to convince the Shah to let Abdol Hossein Mirza Farmanfarma return. Upon his return Abol Hossein sent his sons to schools in Europe, leaving his wife very much alone. The two grew further apart as time passed.
      In 1906 the ascendance of her brother Mohammad Ali Shah to the throne plunged the country into civil war again as the new shah tried to crush the democratic movement. During the Iranian Civil War Farmanfarma sided with the constitutionalists who were victorious. He continued his government service by holding the posts of Minister of Justice and War Minister. He also became the leader of a party of conservative moderates. In his role as Minister for Justice he introduced the Western custom of court trials into the Persian legal system.
      Eventually, Farmanfarma was dispatched by the Shah to Tabriz in order to make peace between warring Persian and Kurdish tribes. During his stay there he had married his second wife, the daughter of a Kurdish mountain chief, in order to seal a pact. The young Kurdish bride had actually been sent back to her tribe and died a few years later. Princess Ezzat-Dowleh and Abdol Hossein Mirza Farmanfarma grew even more apart and the two became completely estranged.
      In 1911 Farmanfarma married his second true wife, Masoumeh Khanoum who was accepted by a very lonely Princess Ezzat-Dowleh amidst the chaos of the civil war. Abdol Hossein Mirza Farmanfarma returned to Tehran in 1915 after quelling the secession in the west of Iran . With his arrival he brought his third wife, named Batul (the marriage, like that of his Kurdish wife, was to seal a pact).
      Farmanfarma was in Tehran for only one year, serving first as War Minister and then as Prime Minister. For most of his tenure he was trying to keep the country unified, which he successfully managed to do. During his time as Prime Minister, he established the Ministry of Health, and created the Pasteur Institute of Iran whose first action was to introduce a smallpox vaccine that saved countless lives. After only three months he resigned from the post of Prime Minister. In 1916, he returned to Shiraz for his second appointment as governor general of the Fars province.
      On his arrival in Shiraz , the entire province was in total chaos. His first task was to prevent the spread of a famine. He carried this out by organising Iran's first agricultural cooperative. To ensure his acceptance by the people of Shiraz he took a wife, Fatimeh Khanoum, from one of the leading local families. He also raised an all-Iranian regiment to restore security and order to the province with the help of British General Sykes who referred to Farmanfarma as "my friend" in his famous History of Persia. Sykes also went on to praise Farmanfarma as "one of the ablest men in Iran". Farmanfarma for his part was a well known Anglophile.
      He completed his term as the governor of Shiraz in 1921 when he was replaced by his nephew Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh . Upon his return to Tehran he was arrested, with two of his elder sons ( Nosrat Dowleh the foreign minister, Abbas Mirza Salar-Lashgar a general), by Reza Shah who had just taken power in a coup. He spent the next three months in the Qasr-e-Qajar jail until Reza Shah had proclaimed himself War Minister and consolidated his power base. Upon his release Abdol Hossein Mirza Farmanfarma retired from politics and tended to his remaining estates and villages from Tehran after a great portion of them were confiscated by Reza Shah . He spent his final years under house arrest suffering from gout, arthritis, and insomnia. He died in 1939 and is buried in the Shrine of Shazdeh Abdol Azim.

      The founder of the Pahlavi dynasty , Reza Shah , then known as Reza Khan or "Master Reza" was a sergeant in the household guard known for his bravery and strength. When Farmanfarma equipped his unit with Maxim Machine Guns he promoted Reza Khan to the rank of officer and gave him command of a gun. After that, Reza Khan was to be known as "Reza Khan-i-Maximi": Machine-Gun Reza. Over the next 14 years Reza Khan progressed to the rank of Field Commander under the command of Farmanfarma before becoming involved in a British backed coup to establish himself as the new Shah. After the coup in 1921, Farmanfarma demanded to see Reza Khan when he heard that two of his sons had been arrested. When he walked into Reza Khan room, Reza Khan (the Minister of War) jumped to attention in respect for his old commander. It was Reza Khan's Prime Minister, Seyeed Zia who managed to get Farmanfarma arrested and put into jail for three months while Reza Khan consolidated his power base. Farmanfarma was released the minute Syeed Zia was taken to jail himself.

      His full official name and title was Hazrat Aghdas Vala Shahzadeh Abdol Hossein Mirza Farman-Farma. This translates directly as "His Highness, Prince Abdol Hossein, the Eminent and Exalted One, the Greatest of All Commanders." When surnames became compulsory he took his last title as his family name., viz. Farman-Farma literally translating to "Greatest of All Commanders".
      The title "Farman Farma" did not originate with Prince Abdol-Hossein Mirza Farman Farma. It was first held by his grand-uncle Hossein Ali Mirza Farman Farma , Abbas Mirza Nayeb Saltaneh's younger half-brother. Prince Abdol Hossein Mirza's father, Prince Firouz Mirza would battle his own uncle, Prince Hossein Ali Mirza Farman Farma, in support his brother Prince Mohammad Mirza (later Mohammad Shah Qajar ) and win the right to the succession for Prince Mohammad Mirza. Forty years later, Nasser-al-Din Shah , Firouz Mirza's nephew, would bestow the title Farman Farma on Prince Firouz Mirza in gratitude for his role in consolidating the succession to the Qajar (Kadjar) Throne. The title Farman Farma then passed on to his son Prince Abdol Hossein Mirza, during the reign of Nasser-ed-Din Shah. Nasser-ed-din Shah and Prince Abdol Hossein Mirza were cousins, but Nasser-ed-Din Shah was about thirty years his senior. Only Prince Abdol Hossein Mirza carried the title "Farman-Farma", while his offspring carry the family name derived from the former title "Farman-Farmaian" (lit. Those belonging to Farman-Farma)



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