James Justinian Morier (15 August 1782 – 19 March 1849) was a British diplomat and author noted for his novels about the

Qajar dynasty The Qajar family (; 1789–1925) was an Iranian royal family founded by Mohammad Khan (), a member of the Qoyunlu clan of the Turkoman-descended Qajar tribe. The dynasty's effective rule in Iran ended in 1925 when Iran's '' Majlis'', conven ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, most famously for the ''Hajji Baba'' series.

Early life

Morier was born in Ottoman

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...

, the second son of

Isaac Morier Isaac Morier (1750–1817) was British consul-general of the Levant Company at Constantinople. Early life Isaac Morier was born on 12 August 1750 in Smyrna.Lane-Poole, 1894 He was from a Huguenot family. He was educated at Harrow. Career In 180 ...

, a Swiss-born merchant, British by naturalisation, and a member of the London-based

Levant Company The Levant Company was an English chartered company formed in 1592. Elizabeth I of England approved its initial charter on 11 September 1592 when the Venice Company (1583) and the Turkey Company (1581) merged, because their charters had expired, ...

, and Elizabeth Clara Van Lennep. After private education in England, he worked in his father's Smyrna business between 1799 and 1806.

Diplomatic career

Career in Iran

Through the influence of his uncle, Admiral William Waldegrave, 1st Baron Radstock, he entered the diplomatic service. He first visited Iran in 1808 as secretary to Harford Jones-Brydges, a special British envoy to the Shah, publishing an account of his experiences in 1812 under the title ''A Journey through Iran,

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

and

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

in the years 1808 and 1809''. In 1809 he accompanied the Iranian envoy, Mirza Abul Hasan, to Britain, and in 1810 returned to Iran as Secretary of Embassy on the staff of Sir Gore Ouseley, first Ambassador to Iran. He remained there as Chargé d'Affaires in 1814–1816. After his return to England he published ''A second journey through Persia, Armenia, and Asia Minor, to Constantinople, between the years 1810 and 1816''.

Commissioner to Mexico

Morier married Harriet Fulke Greville in London in 1820. Between 1824 and 1826 he was special commissioner to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, where he negotiated a British-Mexican Treaty of Amity, Commerce and Navigation ratified in 1827.

Writing career

With his knowledge of Eastern life and manners, Morier wrote several entertaining novels. The most popular were '' The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan'' (1824) and its sequel, '' The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan in England'' (1828). The former novel is a sort of '' Gil Blas'' set in

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. The Persian minister to England is said to have protested in behalf of his government against its satire and manner of speaking. There followed '' Zohrab the Hostage'' (1832), ''Ayesha the Maid of Kars'' (1834), and ''The Mirza'' (1841), all full of brilliant description, character-painting, and delicate satire, and several others of lesser quality. ''The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan'' has been reprinted many times, with

bibliophile A bookworm or bibliophile is an individual who loves and frequently reads or collects books. Bibliophilia or bibliophilism is the love of books. Bibliophiles may have large, specialized book collections. They may highly value old editions, aut ...

editions from Random House in 1937 designed and illustrated by Cyrus Leroy Baldridge and from

The Heritage Press The Heritage Press is a trade name which has been used by multiple printers and publishers. Most notably, "The Heritage Press" was an imprint of George Macy Companies, Ltd., from 1937 to 1982. The Heritage Press reprinted classic volumes previousl ...

in 1947 illustrated by Honoré Guilbeau. Some later editions have been prefaced by Walter Scott's generous appreciation of Morier's work, first published in the ''

Quarterly Review The ''Quarterly Review'' was a literary and political periodical founded in March 1809 by London publishing house John Murray. It ceased publication in 1967. It was referred to as ''The London Quarterly Review'', as reprinted by Leonard Scott, f ...

'' in January 1829. A Persian translation of the book was produced by Douglas Craven Phillott.

Death

Morier died suddenly in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

of " cerebral congestion" on 19 March 1849. His wife died in London in 1858.

Legacy

'' The Adventures of Hajji Baba'' is an American movie, based on the Hajji Baba novels, which was produced in 1954. Operation Hajji Baba, a humanitarian airlift operation conducted in 1952 by the

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

, took its name from the Hajji Baba novels. Morier is credited with introducing into English the word " bosh", meaning absurd or foolish talk. It derives from the Turkish word '' boş'' meaning "empty". In 1842, botanist Boiss. published '' Moriera'' a genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s from Central Asia, belonging to the family

Brassicaceae Brassicaceae () or (the older but equally valid) Cruciferae () is a medium-sized and economically important Family (biology), family of flowering plants commonly known as the mustards, the crucifers, or the cabbage family. Most are herbaceous pla ...

in his honour.

Notes

References

* *Johnston, Henry McKenzie. ''Ottoman and Iranian (Persian) Odysseys''. I B Tauris & Co Ltd, 1998. * Boyne, Walter J. "The Pilgrim Airlift". ''Air Force Magazine,'' March 2007. *

External links

* * *
''The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan set forth in Eighty Chapters''
full text

excerpt at Project Gutenberg
''Ayesha, Maid of Kars''
at Internet Archive * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morier, James Justinian 1782 births 1849 deaths British diplomats 19th-century British novelists Smyrniote Levantines Fellows of the Royal Society British expatriates in Iran British male novelists James Justinian British expatriates in the Ottoman Empire 19th-century British male writers