Dhia Jafar

Sayyid Dhia Jafar Hashem al-Musawi (Arabic: ضياء جعفر هاشم الموسوي; 1910–1992)[1][2] was an Iraqi engineer and statesman who held various ministerial positions during the monarchy in Iraq.[3] He was closely connected to Nuri Al-Said and Iraq's last King Faisal II. Jafar served as Minister of Transport, Economy, Finance and later as Minister of Development. He was a cabinet minister from 1947–1958.[4][5]

Dhia Jafar
ضياء جعفر
Minister of Development
In office
May 19, 1958 – July 14, 1958
Prime MinisterAhmed Baban
Minister of Economy
In office
March 3, 1958 – May 19, 1958
Prime MinisterNuri al-Said
Minister of Development
In office
December 17, 1955 – March 3, 1958
Prime MinisterNuri al-Said
Minister of Finance
In office
September 3, 1954 – December 17, 1955
Prime MinisterNuri al-Said
Minister of Economy
In office
January 6, 1949 – September 15, 1953
Prime MinisterNuri al-Said
Tawfeeq Al-Suwaidi
Jamil al-Midfai
Ministry of Works & Transport
In office
March 29, 1947 – January 27, 1948
Prime MinisterSalih Jabr
Personal details
Born1910
Baghdad, Ottoman Empire
Died1992 (aged 81–82)
London, England
RelativesMajid Jafar (grandson)
Badr Jafar (grandson)
Abdul Saleh al-Killidar (first cousin)

Early life and education

Dhia Jafar was born to Jafar Hashem and Kheja al-Astarabadi. His father was a merchant,[6] from a notable family in Al-Kadhimiya,[7] that claim agnatic descent from Musa al-Kadhim[1] through his son Ibrahim al-Mortada Al-Asghar,[8] who was Ruler of Yemen and then of Mecca in the wake of the Third Hijri Century.[9] His mother was the daughter of the renowned merchant Abd al-Hadi al-Astarabadi.[6] His maternal uncle, Mahmoud al-Astarabadi was a member of the senate in the royal era for the city of Kadhimiya.[10] His maternal cousin, Abd al-Saleh al-Killidar, was the custodian of the Imam Husayn shrine.[11]

Education

Jafar grew up in Baghdad and completed his school education there.[12] He then studied English at the American University of Beirut and subsequently obtained a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Birmingham. He was the first Iraqi to hold a scientific PhD in engineering.[6][13][12]

Career

Early career

Returning from his studies in England, Jafar started his career working in different engineering jobs and was eventually tasked with railway engineering and development of the Iraqi railway system.[12]

Together with fellow engineers, he founded the Industrial Engineering School in Baghdad, the first industrial school in Iraq.[12]

Jafar became friends with Prime Minister Nuri al-Said, after having worked with his son Sabah As-Said. Al-Said supported Jafar and a group of fellow young and well educated men.[12]

Political career

Jafar served as a cabinet minister in Iraq from 1947 to 1958, heading the Ministry of Transport and Works, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Development.[5][12]

Minister of Transport and Works

Jafar was appointed as Minister of Transport and Works in March 1947 by Salih Jabr. During his tenure as Minister of Transport and Works, Jafar pushed for the nationalization of technical education and expertise and began negotiations with the British Government and British oil companies.[12]

Minister of Economy

Jafar was appointed as Minister of Economy in the early 1950s and continued to lead the intense oil negotiations on the side of the Iraqi delegation, which lasted for more than three years and resulted in a landmark 50/50 profit-sharing agreement in 1951. Al-Said and Jafar coined the term “Oil of Arabs”.[12][14]

Jafar with King Faisal II

Minister of Finance

Jafar was appointed as Minister of Finance during the 10th ministry of Nuri al-Said. He held the same position again in the 12th ministry from August 1954 and resigned in December 1955. One of Jafar's main projects as Minister of Finance was the establishment of a gold standard for the Iraqi Dinar, disconnecting the currency from the British Sterling.[12]

Minister of Development and Development Board

During his time as cabinet minister and especially as Minister of Development, Jafar was involved in the architectural and infrastructural advancement, reshaping and reconstruction of Iraq in general and Baghdad in particular. He was a central member of the Development Board, an organization and planning body of decision-makers, technical experts and politicians around Prime Minister Nuri as-Said. The board, which also seated members from the United States and the United Kingdom, was set up in 1950 to strategically invest the resources from the new oil agreement into important long-range development objectives for Iraq and was in tenure until 1958.[15][12]

Following the profit-sharing agreement with Britain, Iraq's income from oil rose from 6.7 million dinars in 1950 to 161.5 million in 1955, out of which 70% were redirected to the Development Board.[12]

Jafar with King Faisal II and architect Frank Lloyd Wright

An architectural “Master Plan for Baghdad” was commissioned by the Development Board in 1954 and presented in 1956. It was consisted of changes to Baghdad's road and bridge system, housing, industry, commerce and a wide range of new buildings, including schools, shops, clinics, car parks, factories and government buildings. Several important buildings and structures were planned and erected in cooperation with known architects like Le Corbusier, Gio Ponti and Frank Lloyd Wright.[5][13]

Prominent projects from the Development Board are the Tharthar Project, inaugurated in 1956, the Habbaniyah Project, the Ramadi Barrage and the Queen Alia Bridge (renamed to Jumhuriya Bridge later), inaugurated in March 1957.[12][16]

From 1957 – 1958, Jafar served as president of the Society of Iraqi Engineers.[13]

Jafar was reappointed as Minister of Development in May 1958.[12]

At the time of the 1958 Iraqi Military Coup, Jafar was receiving medical treatment in London and subsequently exiled himself in the UK.[4][5]

Civilian life

Jafar returned to Iraq in 1962, establishing an architectural office in Baghdad.

Personal life

Jafar moved to the emirate of Sharjah in 1969 and later back to London again, where he died in December 1992 during surgery.

Family

Jafar married the daughter of Hamid Khan, a cousin of the Aga Khan who was a government agent in Najaf from 1917, appointed CIE in 1921 and became the first mutassarif (governor) of Karbala during the royal era.[12]

Among their children are:

  • Yahya, a businessman and currently Executive Director of Uruk Group.[17]
  • Jafar, a scientist and former Vice Chairman of the Iraq Atomic Energy Commission and chief of Iraq's nuclear program and later Co-founder and CEO of Uruk Group.[18][4]
  • Hamid, the founder and chairman of the Board of Directors of the Crescent Group, and the chairman of Dana Gas.[19] Hamid Dhia Jafar has two sons:
    • Majid and Badr who are businessmen with Emirati citizenship and serve on the board of directors of Crescent, and his daughter Razan Jafar is a member of the group's Board.[20]

Books
  • Dhia Jafar Biography and Memoirs notes, by Imad Abdel Salam Raouf.[21]
  • Dhia Jafar and his political and economic role in Iraq, by Haider Farooq Al-Samarrai.[22]

References
  1. Raʼūf, ʻImād ʻAbd al-Salām (2001). Dhia Jafar: Sirah wa Muthakarat [Dhia Jafar: Biography and Memories] (in Arabic). Baghdad, Iraq: Matba'at al-Adib al-Baghdadiyah al-Mahdooda. p. 1.
  2. "Documentary on Dr. Dhia Jafar, Iraqi Minister and Statesman (Arabic with English subtitles) - 6:24". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  3. Ghareeb, Edmund A.; Dougherty, Beth (2004-03-18). Historical Dictionary of Iraq. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-6568-6.
  4. News, Robert Windrem NBC (2003-10-24). "A man with a foot in multiple worlds". msnbc.com. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
  5. "The Baghdad Affair.How diplomacy supplanted one of the lastmajor projects". 2015. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  6. "القائد التكنوقراط .. ضياء جعفر". Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  7. "Documentary on Dr. Dhia Jafar, Iraqi Minister and Statesman (Arabic with English subtitles) - 7:10". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  8. "Documentary on Dr. Dhia Jafar, Iraqi Minister and Statesman (Arabic with English subtitles) - 6:34". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  9. "Documentary on Dr. Dhia Jafar, Iraqi Minister and Statesman (Arabic with English subtitles) - 6:45". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  10. "الوزيرالسعيدنورييتـذكرجعـفرضيـــاء" (PDF). Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  11. Ṭuʻmah, Salmān Hādī (1998). Asha'er Karbala Wa 'Usariha [Tribes and Families of Karbala] (in Arabic). Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Mahaja al-Baydha'. p. 144.
  12. Documentary on Dr. Dhia Jafar, Iraqi Minister and Statesman (Arabic with English subtitles), retrieved 2020-05-19
  13. "1950s BAGHDAD — MODERN AND INTERNATIONAL" (PDF). The American Academic Research Institute in Iraq. 2007. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  14. "IRAQ: 50-50". Time. 1951-04-16. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
  15. Nigra, John O. (1955). "Fulbright Professor in Iraq". Bulletin of the American Association of University Professors (1915-1955). 41 (3): 489–502. doi:10.2307/40221113. ISSN 0883-1610. JSTOR 40221113.
  16. Crossing the Jumhuriya Bridge Into The Future Of Iraq, retrieved 2020-05-19
  17. Aliqtisadi. "من هو يحيى ضياء جعفر؟ | ملف الشخصية | من هم؟" (in Arabic). Retrieved 2020-05-19.
  18. البرادعي, محمد; الشروق, دار (2020-01-25). سنوات الخداع - محمد البرادعي, دار الشروق - كتب Google. ISBN 9789770931424. Archived from the original on 2020-01-25. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
  19. "حميد جعفر رئيساً لمجلس إدارة "دانة غاز"". www.alkhaleej.ae. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
  20. "مجموعة الهلال | أعضاء مجلس الإدارة". www.crescent.ae. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
  21. "ضياء جعفر سيرة ومذكرات". www.abjjad.com. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
  22. "ضـيـاء جـعـفـر و دوره الـسـيـاسـي و الإقـتـصـادي فـي الـعـراق - Diya Jafar wa-dawruhu al-siyasi wa-al-iqtisadi fi al-Iraq - ArabicBookshop.net - Supplier of Arabic Books". www.arabicbookshop.net. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
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