Kamil Chadirji, spelled Kamil al-Chadirji or Kamel al-Chaderji, was an Iraqi politician, photographer, lawyer, activist, and founder of the National Democratic Party in Iraq.
23 Facts About Kamil Chadirji
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Kamil Chadirji served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies of Iraq in the 1920s and 1950s.
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Kamil Chadirji was the father of notable modernist architect, Rifat Chadirji and political leader, Naseer al-Chaderchi.
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Kamil Chadirji is noted for founding the National Democratic Party with a left-wing program and was an influential political figure in political life who opposed the monarchy and pursued a social reform agenda.
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Kamil Chadirji's family was a part of the aristocracy, with roots in Anatolia.
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Kamil Chadirji never graduated, and instead returned to Baghdad in 1922, following the establishment of the Kingdom of Iraq.
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Kamil Chadirji earned a law degree in 1925 and worked for the Municipality of Baghdad as well as for the Department of Finance, working in education.
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Kamil Chadirji joined the Ahali group, and was elected to parliament in 1927, becoming the minister of works from 1936 to 1937 under Bakr Sidqi and Hikmat Sulayman's government, resigning in protest against army interference in the government.
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Kamil Chadirji was moderately anti-Zionist and advocated for strengthening the Arab League.
10.
In 1937, while serving as Economic Minister under the government of Hikmat Sulayman, Kamil Chadirji held talks with Zionist emissaries.
11.
Kamil Chadirji expressed his sympathies to the Zionist movement and his desire to reach a cooperative agreement for them.
12.
Kamil Chadirji arrived at the courthouse accompanied by 21 defense lawyers.
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The proceedings were published in Sawt al-Ahali, and Kamil Chadirji was sentenced to 6 months of hard labor.
14.
Kamil Chadirji was skeptical of this proposal, and, as he states in his memoirs, many members of the Iraqi opposition hoped for a collapse of the talks since, if successful, they would strengthen Nuri al-Said and the Sharifian elites.
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Kamil Chadirji's efforts ended in the creation of the National Electoral Front, consisting of the NDP, the Iraqi Communist Party, and other parties, which contested the June 1954 elections, winning 10 out of 135 seats.
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Kamil Chadirji talked about the inclination of Arab countries to the Soviet Union, their suspicion at American troops in Lebanon, and their perceived threat of British forces in Jordan.
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Kamil Chadirji recommended that Britain withdraw from Jordan and allow a plebiscite to happen to decide its fate.
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On February 2,1968, Kamil Chadirji died at the age of 71 from a heart attack.
19.
Kamil Chadirji had a bunch of books in his library on how to use a camera.
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Kamil Chadirji had several cameras, some of which were the old bulky kind, in which he had to stick his head under a leather cover.
21.
Kamil Chadirji developed his own photographs in a dark room at our house.
22.
Kamil Chadirji bought me a small camera when I was in primary school.
23.
Kamil Chadirji guided me through the process and taught me how to take good photographs.