GOLGUN, FARID-AL-DAWLA Mirzā MOḤAMMAD-ḤASAN KHAN HAMADĀNI

 

GOLGUN, FARID-AL-DAWLA Mirzā MOḤAMMAD-ḤASAN KHAN HAMADĀNI (1256-1316 Š./1877-1937), constitutionalist and journalist. His father was Mirzā Esmāʿil Mostašār, the brother of Ḥājj Sayyed Esḥāq, the influential religious leader of Hamadān. After the overthrow of the constitutional government by Moḥammad-ʿAli Shah in June 1908 (see CONSTITUTIONAL REVOLUTION ii), Farid-al-Dawla joined the branch of Ejtemāʿiyun-ʿĀmmiyun party (q.v.) in Hamadān and apparently became one of its leaders. He also served on the War Committee (Komisiyun-e jang) which fought (1328-30/1910-11) the former shah and his brother Sālār-al-Dawla. Known as a patriot, Farid-al-Dawla was a trusted political figure in Hamadān. He was one of the people actively involved in the founding of the first modern school, Madrasa-ye Noṣrat (later Dabirestān-e Pahlavi and the present-day Dabirestān-e Ḵomeyni), in Hamadān in 1331/1913. In the same year he was appointed the first head of the Department of Education in Hamadān and ten months later was promoted to head the Department of Education and Pious Endowments (Edāra-ye maʿāref wa awqāf) of Kurdistan.

During World War I, when Persia was occupied by belligerent powers, Farid-al-Dawla was arrested and exiled from Hamadān (1336-38/1917-19) for his opposition to the British and for his connection with the leader of the Jangali movement, Mirzā Kuček Khan. After the war he was appointed mayor of Hamadān, in which capacity he did much for the renovation of the city (e.g., raising a wall around Avicenna’s tomb and founding a library thereof). In 1306 Š./1317, he founded the thrice-weekly newspaper Golgun, which was published for five years. The poet ʿĀref Qazvini (q.v.) was one of its regular contributors.

 

Bibliography:

Parviz Aḏkāʾi, “Farid-al-Dawla Golgun,” Āyanda 18/1-6, 1371 Š./1992, pp. 73-81.

Ṣadr Hāšemi, Jarāʾed o majallāt IV, no. 955.

(Parviz AḏkāʾI)

Originally Published: December 15, 2001

Last Updated: February 14, 2012

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