Manouchehr Eghbal
Iranian physician and politician (1909–1977)
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Manouchehr Eghbal (Persian: منوچهر اقبال; September 1909 – 25 November 1977) was an Iranian physician and royalist politician. He was the Prime Minister of Iran from 1957 to 1960.
Manouchehr Eghbal | |
|---|---|
منوچهر اقبال | |
 | |
| Prime Minister of Iran | |
| In office 3 April 1957 – 1 September 1960 | |
| Monarch | Mohammad Reza Shah |
| Preceded by | Hossein Ala' |
| Succeeded by | Jafar Sharif-Emami |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 1909 |
| Died | 25 November 1977 (aged 67–68) |
| Party |
|
| Spouse | Alice Eghbal |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | |
Early life and education
Eghbal was born in Mashhad in September 1909,[1][2] and his family was from Khorasan.[3] He had an older brother, Ali.[2]
Eghbal studied at Dar al-Fonun.[3] He finished his advanced studies in medicine at the University of Paris in 1933.[1]
Career and activities
Following his graduation in 1933, Eghbal was employed as a physician in Mashhad.[3] In the 1940s, he was made deputy health minister.[3] He was a member of the French Academy of Medicine.[1] He was named the undersecretary of the Ministry of Health in 1943.[2] In 1950, Eghbal was appointed chancellor of University of Tabriz. He was the governor of Azerbaijan in 1950–52.[1] He became chancellor of University of Tehran in 1954.[1] Five years later he became Iran's envoy to UNESCO. He then taught at Sorbonne for a while and became a member of the French National Academy of Medicine. During this period he founded the Nationalists' Party[4] and served as the party's chair.[5]
Eghbal was appointed minister of health in the cabinet led by Mohammad Sa'ed in 1944.[2] He also held the same post in the cabinet led by Ahmad Qavam (1946).[2] Then he served as the minister of education in the cabinet of Abdolhossein Hazhir (1948),[6] minister of transportation in the cabinet led by Ali Mansur, and interior minister in the cabinet of Mohammad Sa'ed between 1948 and 1950.[7]
In April 1957, Eghbal became prime minister, replacing Hossein Ala' in the post.[7][8] Eghbal was also named as the chief of Plan Orgazination in February 1959 when Abol Hassan Ebtehaj resigned from office.[9] His cabinet lasted until September 1960,[10] and he was replaced by Jafar Sharif-Emami as prime minister.[11] Until his death, he served as the chairman of the National Iranian Oil Company.[12] He was also a close aide of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and served as a board member of the royal organization of social welfare headed by Princess Ashraf Pahlavi.[13][14]
Personal life and death
Eghbal married a French woman, Alice, during his studies in France.[1] They had three daughters.[15] The eldest Nicole became a nun.[15] The second, Monique, married a Swiss surgeon and had a daughter, Muriel.[15] The youngest daughter, Maryam Francoise, first married Prince Mahmoud Reza Pahlavi in October 1964 when she was 18 years old,[16] but the marriage ended in divorce and she married Shahriar Shafiq.[15]
Eghbal died of a heart attack on 25 November 1977 in Tehran, aged 68.[17]
Honors
Eghbal was given the title of honorary doctorate by the University of Paris in 1959.[1] He was also awarded the same title by the University of Bordeaux.[1]
