INTRODUCTION

NAME

ORIGIN

GENEALOGY

BIOGRAPHIES

SOURCES

CONTACT





INTRODUCTION

When speaking of    t h e   Hedayat family in Iran, people usually refer to the one Hedayat / Kamal-Hedayat-family, that originates from Chahardeh Kalateh, part of the former district of Hezar Jarib, between Damghan and the eastern border of Mazandaran. It is there, where the family history starts with the execution of the first traceable ancestor, Mohammed Esmail Beg by order of Zaki Khan Zand, in spring 1779.
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The prominence of that family is today largely due to Sadegh Hedayat, who is considered to be one of the most important authors of modern Iranian prose literature.
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Yet, already the great-grandfather of Sadegh, Mirza Reza Gholi Khan, known as 'Laleh Bashi', with the pen-name 'Hedayat', has founded the high reputation of that family, being not only considered one of the most learned men of the 19th century Iran, but being an eminent author of many oeuvres on (Qajar-)history and compilations on Iranian poets and poetry which are frequently cited up to this day.
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Interestingly, the close relation of the Hedayats to pen and paper is not  limited to above mentioned prominent members of the family. Jahangir Hedayat and Sima Hedayat (nephew / niece of Sadegh H.) have published own short stories, respectively poetry, not to talk about other members that dispose about fascinating literary and poetical skills, but prefer to present their oeuvres privately. Living and socialising in such an environment, it is not surprising, that the Hedayats have family bonds with families of other prominent writers such as Ali Akbar Dehkhoda, Sadegh Chubak and Bijan Jalali.
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In politics too, the Hedayats have left important marks, especially in the fields of public instruction and communication infrastructure of Iran. Mirza Reza Gholi Khan Hedayat became the first Vice-Director (Nazem) of the Dar-ol Fonun in 1852, which was Irans first Polytechnic. Hence, both of his sons were educated at this college and rose to high senior positions up to the top of the Ministry of Public Instruction, which was headed from 1881-1895 by the elder son, Ali Gholi Khan Mokhber-ol Douleh I. and from 1895-1904 by the younger son, Jafar Gholi Khan Nayer-ol Molk I., who previously had been Director of the Dar-ol Fonun from 1861 to 1895.





The Telegraph Affairs became the domain of the Senior Branch, which appears in the honorific title of Mokhber-ol Douleh
(= Reporter of the State), which was bestowed first in 1869/70 and held through three generations in this family-branch - until the abolishment of all honorific and military titles in May 1925. Public Instruction was almost the domain of the Junior Branch, which is reflected in the honorific title of Nayer-ol Molk (= Light of the Country) that was from 1884/85 until 1925 held by two generations.
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The first Mokhber-ol Douleh, Ali Gholi Khan, was a highly respected man with an outstanding integrity, mirrored in Iranian as well as in many foreign sources. Thus he had considerable influence at the court of Naser-ol Din Shah. Three of Mokhber-ol Douleh's sons, privileged by birth, education and skills, continued to work and to strive for modernisation of Iranian politics.
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"This family played a great role in the constitutional movement, especially the three brothers Sani-ol Douleh, Mokhber-ol Saltaneh and Mokhber-ol Molk, who lived in together in a large house and had always refused to take office during the days of tyranny" as E.G. Browne has stated it in his famous "The Persian Revolution".
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As many other families of the old aristocracy (i.e. those families in Iran, that had been serving during several generations in high offices before  1925), several family members have continued to serve the country under the new dynasty of the Pahlavi as ministers and diplomats.