Abolhassan Diba
Encyclopedia
Abolhassan Diba was born in Tabriz
Tabriz
Tabriz is the fourth largest city and one of the historical capitals of Iran and the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. Situated at an altitude of 1,350 meters at the junction of the Quri River and Aji River, it was the second largest city in Iran until the late 1960s, one of its former...

, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

 (4 January 1894) to a well-established family which can trace its line from the 8th century. His mother (Princess Malektadj Firuz) was a princess of the (then reigning) Qajar dynasty
Qajar dynasty
The Qajar dynasty was an Iranian royal family of Turkic descent who ruled Persia from 1785 to 1925....

 and his father (Fazlollah Vakil-el-Molk) was a Private Aide to the Crown Prince (Mozaffar-ed-din Mirza). At birth, he was given the Qajar title of "Saghat-ed-Dowleh". At the death of his father, the family moved to Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...

 in 1902.

Education

In 1909, he accompanied his half-brother, Mohammad Mossadegh, to Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, where he graduated from the Ecole des Sciences Politiques of the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...

, with a degree in economics and administration.

Business ventures

After the coup d'état by Reza Khan (1921), he left government employ, sold his land holdings and entered into private business, which was frowned upon by his peers at that time, setting up the firm of Diba & Bayat, which later became Abolhassan Diba and Company.
He was innovative and forward-thinking, always seeking to bring modernity to his country. In this quest, the following activities are worth mentioning:
  1. He imported the first Leyland truck
    Truck
    A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...

    s into Iran (1921), to be used for road haulage instead of mule
    Mule
    A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Horses and donkeys are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes. Of the two F1 hybrids between these two species, a mule is easier to obtain than a hinny...

    s and camel caravans
    Camel train
    A camel train is a series of camels carrying goods or passengers in a group as part of a regular or semi-regular service between two points. Although they rarely travelled faster than the walking speed of a man, camels' ability to handle harsh conditions made camel trains a vital part of...

    .
  2. He introduced agricultural machinery
    Agricultural machinery
    Agricultural machinery is machinery used in the operation of an agricultural area or farm.-Hand tools:The first person to turn from the hunting and gathering lifestyle to farming probably did so by using his bare hands, and perhaps some sticks or stones. Tools such as knives, scythes, and wooden...

     (tractor
    Tractor
    A tractor is a vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery used in agriculture or construction...

    s, harvesters
    Combine harvester
    The combine harvester, or simply combine, is a machine that harvests grain crops. The name derives from the fact that it combines three separate operations, reaping, threshing, and winnowing, into a single process. Among the crops harvested with a combine are wheat, oats, rye, barley, corn ,...

    ) to replace the use of bullock
    Bullock
    Bullock may refer to:* Bullock , a castrated male bovine animal of any age: see cattle* Bullock , a young bull...

    s.
  3. A civil construction
    Civil engineering
    Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...

     department was established to undertake the development of rail construction, bridge
    Bridge
    A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...

    s, building
    Building
    In architecture, construction, engineering, real estate development and technology the word building may refer to one of the following:...

    s and road
    Road
    A road is a thoroughfare, route, or way on land between two places, which typically has been paved or otherwise improved to allow travel by some conveyance, including a horse, cart, or motor vehicle. Roads consist of one, or sometimes two, roadways each with one or more lanes and also any...

    s. For this purpose, the first asphalting machinery was imported with which the company built some of the first paved roads in Iran.
  4. Another section imported automobile
    Automobile
    An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

    s.
  5. He was the first to bring mechanized accounting procedures to Iran, with an Electronic Digital Computer
    Computer
    A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...

     in 1957.
  6. After World War II
    World War II
    World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

    , the first lifts (passenger elevator
    Elevator
    An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...

    s) were installed in the first buildings of 4-stories and, later, a factory established which produced nearly all Iran's requirements.
  7. He started the first hotel on modern western standards (Park Hotel, Tehran, 1940). In addition, he started the first local hotel training school, staffed by foreign instructors.
  8. He introduced modern telephony
    Telephony
    In telecommunications, telephony encompasses the general use of equipment to provide communication over distances, specifically by connecting telephones to each other....

    , setting up the first automatic Teheran telephone exchange
    Telephone exchange
    In the field of telecommunications, a telephone exchange or telephone switch is a system of electronic components that connects telephone calls...

    .

Charitable and educational works

He was the administrator of a large charity hospital, established by his mother. With all of the these endeavours, he never lost sight of the human factor, sending hundreds to be trained abroad in whatever vocation they were employed. Thus, within these activities, there were a large number of experts in such varied fields as hotel management, chef
Chef
A chef is a person who cooks professionally for other people. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who cooks for a living, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation.-Etymology:The word "chef" is borrowed ...

s, doctors
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...

, nurses, mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, computer technicians, etc.

The Iranian revolution

In later life, he was devastated by the Iranian Revolution
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution refers to events involving the overthrow of Iran's monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and its replacement with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the...

 (1979–1980), which saw the wrecking of all his endeavours and the seizure by the clergy of all his assets, including the Park Hotel (which had grown to a 5-star 500-room complex). He had spent sixty years of his life investing his knowledge and his fortune in Iran, only to be forced into exile. The shock was such that he spent the last two years of his life in hospital and died in Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...

, Switzerland on 16 April 1982.
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