19 Facts About Iraj Eskandari

Iraj Eskandari was an Iranian communist politician.

Iraj Eskandari was the first general secretary of the Tudeh Party of Iran and a member of parliament.

Iraj Eskandari's father was Yahya Mirza Eskandari, one of Qajar princes in favor of the Persian Constitution of 1906, and his uncle, Soleiman Eskandari, was a constitutionalist Qajar prince.

Iraj Eskandari started his education at first in the school of "Sepehr", then he enrolled in Dar ul-Funun and finally he studied at the Iranian school of political science.

At the age of 18, Iraj Eskandari finished his studies and at 20, according to his father's will and with the help of his grandfather, he travelled to France to continue his studies in Law.

In France, Iraj Eskandari was introduced to Marxist ideologies by a close Bulgarian friend and a student of good knowledge of Marxism, in which he showed his utmost admiration and interest in Marxism.

Iraj Eskandari returned to Iran in 1931 and started his career as a deputy prosecutor.

Five years later, in 1936, Iraj Eskandari resigned his work in the Ministry of Justice.

In 1938, Iraj Eskandari was arrested and sentenced to five years in prison along 52 other communists in a trial popularised as the trial of the group of "The Fifty-Three", in which a total of fifty-three politicians and activists were tried in a span of two years for involvement in communist and anti-government political activities.

Iraj Eskandari spent three years in prison until the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran and Reza Shah's forced abdication, when he was one of the first prisoners to be freed.

Iraj Eskandari was elected into the 14th Iranian Majlis, representing the Sari County of Mazandaran Province from 6 March 1944 until 12 March 1946.

Later on in his life, Iraj Eskandari went on to express regret over this action.

Iraj Eskandari was chosen as the minister of trade, crafts and arts until the end of the year, when he was set aside from the government's cabinet.

In December 1969, in the 13th congress of the central committee, Iraj Eskandari returned as first secretary replacing Reza Radmanesh and in 1970, with the proposal of Ghulam Yahya Daneshian, he was elected for this role for the next seven years.

Iraj Eskandari held this position until 1979, the dawn of the Iranian Revolution.

Iraj Eskandari's position came to an abrupt end on the first week of 1979.

Iraj Eskandari was unwilling to support Khomeini, and as a result, he was dismissed in favor of Noureddin Kianouri, who backed Khomeini in the revolution.

Iraj Eskandari continued his work, albeit less than before, in the operations of the Tudeh Party.

Iraj Eskandari died of cancer on Tuesday, April 30,1985, in Leipzig, East Germany.