Khalil Esfandiary-Bakhtiary

Khalil Esfandiary-Bakhtiary
Iranian Ambassador to West Germany
In office 1952–1961
Monarch	Mohammad Reza Shah
Prime Minister	Mohammad Mosaddegh Fazlollah Zahedi Hossein Ala' Manouchehr Eghbal Jafar Sharif-Emami
Preceded by	Abdullah Entezam
Succeeded by	Amir Khosrow Afshar
Personal details
Born	(1901-04-03)3 April 1901 Izeh, Iran
Died	16 January 1983(1983-01-16) (aged 81) Munich, West Germany
Political party	Independent
Spouse	Eva Karl (1924–1983, his death)
Children	Soraya Bijan
Parent(s)	Esfandiar Khan (Sardar Asad) Bibi Maryam
Relatives	Ali-Qoli Khan Bakhtiari (uncle) Najaf-Qoli Khan Bakhtiari (uncle) Bibi Maryam Bakhtiari (aunt)

Khalil Esfandiary-Bakhtiary (Persian: خلیل اسفندیاری بختیاری; April 3, 1901 – January 19, 1983), was an Iranian politician and diplomat. Bakhtiary was Iran's Ambassador to West Germany from 1952 to 1961. He was the father of Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary, the second wife of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran.

Early life

Khalil Esfandiari Bakhtiari was the fourth child of Esfandiar Khan and Maryam Esfandiari Bakhtiari, who was born on April 3, 1901. His father was Esfandiar Khan Sardar Asad, from Ilkhanan named Bakhtiari. His uncle Ali Qoli Khan, Sardar Asad, the conqueror of Tehran during the constitutional revolution, and his other uncle Najaf Qoli Khan, nicknamed Samsam al-Sultaneh; He was the 2nd Prime Minister of Iran during the Qajar period. Esfandiari Bakhtiari grew up in a powerful and political family and left for Berlin, Germany in the fall of 1924 to continue his studies.

Education

Esfandiary Bakhtiari began his studies in law and political economy at the University of Berlin in 1923. While studying in Germany in 1924, he married Eva Karl. Eva was born in 1906 in Saint Petersburg, the capital of Tsarist Russia, and returned to Germany with her family before the start of World War I. Khalil held influence among the Bakhtiari tribes, who resided in the central and southern regions of Iran.

Return to Iran

After completing his studies, Esfandiary Bakhtiari returned to Iran and spent a short period at his maternal estate in Anzano, located at the foothills of the Zagros Mountains. He then moved to Isfahan, and six years after their marriage, their first child, Soraya, was born. Due to the poor sanitary conditions in Iran and the outbreak of smallpox, they decided to leave the country to avoid the risk of disease, heading to Berlin.Four years later, they returned to Isfahan, where they had a son, whom they named Bijan. In April 1946, the Bakhtiari family emigrated to Switzerland and settled in Zurich. A year later, in 1947, Khalil returned to Iran alone, and over the course of four years, he assisted Mohammad Reza Shah in bringing the tribal leaders under the control of the government.

Iran's Ambassador to Germany

After four years, Khalil once again left Iran for Europe. He first went to Switzerland, then, along with his wife and two children, traveled to Germany. On June 18, 1952, following a decree from the Iranian court, he was appointed as the successor to the then-Ambassador of Iran to Germany, Abdollah Entezam-ol-Saltaneh. Khalil Esfandiary Bakhtiari served as Iran's ambassador to Germany for nine years until 1961, when Amir Khosrow Afshar succeeded him. Esfandiary Bakhtiari never returned to Iran and moved to Munich in 1961. He passed away in Munich, Germany, in 1983.

External links

Media related to Khalil Esfandiary Bakhtiary at Wikimedia Commons

• munzinger.de