Reza Khan Arfa Danesh
Reza Khan Arfa Danesh | |
|---|---|
رضاخان ارفع دانش | |
Photograph of Reza Khan Arfa Danesh, dated 1907 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1846 |
| Died | 1937 |
| Children | Hasan Arfa |
| Writing career | |
| Language | |
| Notable works | Resala-ye roshdiya Perles d'Orient |
Reza Khan Arfa Danesh (Persian: رضاخان ارفع دانش; c. 1846–1937) was an Iranian diplomat and poet during the late Qajar era. He was the father of Hasan Arfa, a high-ranking military officer during the Pahlavi era.
Career
He was the eldest son of Haji Shaikh Hasan Sarraf Iravani, a merchant who had relocated from Erivan (Yerevan) to Tabriz after Qajar Iran lost control of the former during the Russo-Iranian War of 1826–1828. During the war, Reza Arfa's grandfather Mirza Ebrahim had served as the chief minister of the Erivan Khanate. In Tabriz, Reza Arfa's father established a small business and married. Reza Arfa was born there, in c. 1846.[1] He received a traditional education, being taught religious studies and the poetry of the Persian poets Hafez, Saadi Shirazi, and Ferdowsi.[2] His father intended for him to become a mullah (Muslim clergy), and thus had him sent to a religious school.[1] However, a flood in 1872 damaged his father's business, which made Reza Arfa go to the Ottoman capital of Constantinople to work for his brother-in-law Haji Aqa Reza Salmasi.[1][3]
Besides working, he also studied English, Ottoman Turkish, and French.[1][4] In 1875, after a visit to Tabriz, he stopped in Tbilisi in the Russian Empire, where he started working in the Iranian embassy.[1][5] In 1902, Reza Arfa was appointed as the Iranian ambassador in Constantinople. He started to lose importance in the capital Tehran when Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar became shah in 1907.[6] Reza Arfa was dismissed in 1910 and thus moved to France, claiming he had "never liked living in Iran".[7]
Reza Arfa met several prominent European politicians throughout his years of service outside Iran. He reportedly had pro-Russian leanings, and in 1900, played a key role in making Iran receive their first loan from the Russian Empire. At the same time, he reportedly backed the Anglo-Persian Agreement in 1919. In 1914, he was appointed as the Minister of Justice in Tehran, which he held for approximately a year.[1]
Throughout his postings outside Iran, the enormous wealth he amassed sometimes stemmed from corrupt methods. He obtained high-paying government positions through bribery. In 1899, Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar (r. 1896–1907) bestowed the title of "Mirza" to Reza Arfa in appreciation of the reception he hosted for him at his residence in Saint Petersburg.[1] A person of aristocratic or prestigious origin was represented by the title of Mirza.[8] Reza Arfa died in 1937 in Tehran.[1] His son Hasan Arfa was a high-ranking military officer during the Pahlavi era.[1]
Poetry and building projects
Using "Danesh" as his pen-name,[1] Reza Arfa also wrote poetry in Persian and French,[2] which the modern Iranian writer Ali-Akbar Sa'idi Sirjani described as "mediocre". His Resala-ye roshdiya, a study on the Persian script was published in Constantinople in 1879.[1] His French work Perles d'Orient was published in 1904.[2] He is also the author of an autobiography.[1]
By assisting in the establishment of a school named Dabestan-e Danesh, he played an important role in early efforts to create a modern educational system in Iran. He also had a home, Villa Ispahan, built in Monaco due to his fondness for a luxurious and high-profile lifestyle.[1]
He was amongst the early advocates to restore elements of Iran's pre-Islamic heritage into the modern public style, such as when he used the Taq Kasra as an inspiration when rebuilding the façade of the Ministry in 1913/14.[2]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Sirjani 1993.
- ^ a b c d Noël-Clarke 2016, p. xx.
- ^ Noël-Clarke 2016, p. 2.
- ^ Noël-Clarke 2016, p. xviii.
- ^ Noël-Clarke 2016, p. xxiii.
- ^ Noël-Clarke 2016, p. 276.
- ^ Noël-Clarke 2016, p. 277.
- ^ Marzolph & Zenhari 2022, p. 4.
Sources
- Marzolph, Ulrich; Zenhari, Roxana (2022). Mirzā ʿAli-Qoli Khoʾi: The Master Illustrator of Persian Lithographed Books in the Qajar Period. Vol. 1. Brill Publishers. ISBN 978-1845118280.
- Noël-Clarke, Michael (2016). Memories of a Bygone Age: Qajar Persia and Imperial Russia 1853-1902. Gingko Library. ISBN 978-1909942868.
- Sirjani, Ali-Akbar Sa'idi (1993). "Dāneš, Reżā Khan Arfaʿ". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica (Online ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation. ISBN 978-0933273634.