Tawfiq al-Suwaidi (; 11 May 1892 – 15 October 1968) was an

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

i politician who served as

Prime Minister of Iraq The prime minister of the Republic of Iraq is the head of government of Iraq and the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces. On 27 October 2022, Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani became the incumbent prime minister. History The prime minist ...

on three occasions stretching from 1929 to 1950.

Early life and education

Al-Suwaidi was born in Baghdad in 1892, he completed his early schooling at 16 and after a year in the local law college, travelled to Istanbul in 1909 where he continued his studies in the Istanbul College of Law. After completing his studies in Istanbul (graduation 1912) Tawfiq al-Suwaidi's was sent to the Sorbonne in Paris, by his father, to further his Law education. Al - Suwaidi returned to Iraq after finishing his studies in Paris in 1914. He joined the Ministry of Education as a secretary to the committee for the renovation of Shamsuddin Sami's famous French-Turkish Dictionary.

Career

During the first world war, as well as working as a lawyer, Al -Suwaidi worked as a teacher in the Law college in Damascus, teaching Roman and general international law. He accepted these posts after rejecting a judgeship in Dair al - Zor and resigning from a judgeship in Damascus - al-Suwaidi was adamant to take a professional salary paying position rather than a position of prestige in order to repay his father for his European education. It was in 1928, upon the resignation of the Saadan ministry, that Tawfik al- Sowaidi was appointed premier and called to form his first cabinet. He thus became the youngest premier in Iraq's history. Iraq was granted membership to the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

in 1932 and due to his fluency in foreign languages, particularly French, the then diplomatic language, Tawfiq al-suwaidi was chosen as Iraq's first permanent representative. In addition to serving as prime minister, Al-Suwaidi also held posts as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Justice, the Controller general of state accounts; and separate from his ministerial roles, al-Suwaidi served as a member of the regency council (performing the duties of king or regent at times in which they were absent from the country), a leader of the Iraqi delegation to the league of nations and a leader of the delegation to the united nations. He was elected as the

president of the Chamber of Deputies President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsidente ...

from November 1929 to November 1930. He was Governor of the

Central Bank of Iraq The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI; ) is a monetary authority established in 1947, shortly after the end of the British occupation of Iraq. The CBI's primary objectives are to ensure domestic price stability and foster a stable competitive market based ...

from 1948 to 1949. In 1958, Tawfiq al-Suwaidi was selected as the Foreign affairs minister under

Arab Federation The Hashemite Arab Federation was a short-lived confederation that lasted from 14 February to 2 August 1958, between the Hashemite kingdoms of Iraq and Jordan. Although the name implies a federal structure, it was ''de facto'' a confederation. T ...

. However, this post was dissolved when the royal regime fell by the

14 July Revolution The 14 July Revolution, also known as the 1958 Iraqi military coup, was a ''coup d'état'' that took place on 14 July 1958 in Iraq, resulting in the toppling of King Faisal II and the overthrow of the Hashemite-led Kingdom of Iraq. The Ira ...

. Because of his close ties to the crown, Suwaidi was arrested in 1958 during the revolution that overthrew the monarchy. Sentenced to life in prison, he was pardoned in 1961 and went into exile in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, where he died.

References

* Harris M. Lentz III, ''Heads of States and Governments: A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Over 2,300 Leaders, 1945 through 1992''. McFarland & Company, Inc., 1994, p. 411. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Suwaidi, Tawfiq al- 1892 births 1968 deaths Istanbul University Faculty of Law alumni University of Paris alumni Prime ministers of Iraq Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies of Iraq Governors of the Central Bank of Iraq Politicians from Baghdad Iraqi prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Iraq Recipients of Iraqi presidential pardons Members of Iraqi Academy of Sciences Ministers of foreign affairs of Iraq