Мохаммад Әли Форуғи: Иран саяхатшысы, тарихшы және премьер-министрі

Iranian diplomat and politlcian

Mohammad Ali Foroughi (محمدعلی فروغی; early August 1877 and diplomat who served as the Prime Minister of Iran for three terms. He wrote numerous books on ancient Iranian history and is known for founding the Academy of Iran.

Foroughi was born in Tehran to a merchant family from Isfahan. His ancestor, Mirza Abutorab was the representative of Isfahan in Mugan plain during Nader Shah Afshar's coronation. His grandfather, Mohammad Mehdi Arbab Isfahani, was amongst the most influential merchants of Isfahan and was skilled in history and geography. His father Mohammad Hosein Foroughi was the translator of the Shah to Arabic and French. He was also a poet and published a newspaper called Tarbiat. Naser al Din Shah Qajar nicknamed Mohammad Hosein, Foroughi, after hearing a poem that he had written. During his early life, Foroughi studied at the élite Dar ul Funun (Polytechnic school) in Tehran.

In 1907, Foroughi's father died, and thus Foroughi inherited his father's title of Zoka ol Molk. However, later Foroughi regained his status and became Prime Minister during the initial phase of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's reign. Foroughi as a prime minister was instrumental in having Mohammad Reza Pahlavi proclaimed as king after his father, Reza Shah, was forced to abdicate (16 September 1941) and exiled by the allied forces of the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union during World War II. After the collapse of his cabinet, he was named Minister of Court and then named ambassador of Iran to the United States of America, but he died in Tehran at the age of 67 before he could assume the post.

The most important contribution of Foroughi to philosophy is his triplet, "The Evolution of Philosophy in Europe", in which he covered the works of European Philosophers, starting from the Seven Sages of Greece in the 7th century BC through to Henri Bergson, in the 20th century.