Aligholi Ardalan

Ali Qoli Ardalan

Ali-Qoli Ardalan (Persian: علیقلی اردلان; 25 January 1900, in Tehran – 2 August 1986, in Tehran) was one of the pre-eminent Iranian diplomats of his generation. He served as the country's Minister of Industry, the Cabinet Minister for Foreign Affairs and as its ambassador to the United States, the USSR, and West Germany. He was also Managing Director of the National Iranian Oil Company for Southern Iran.

Early life

From 1924 to 1927 he served as deputy of the Iranian embassy in Berlin. He received a Doctorate from Frederick Wilhelm University, Berlin (now Humboldt University of Berlin) having written his thesis on the 'Position of Iranians in the world economy' (dated 23 November 1929) in impeccable German. He joined the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the age of 30, and became Political Officer at the Persian Embassy in Washington DC. From May 14, 1958 to March 16, 1960 he functioned as Iranian Ambassador to the United States.

Ardalan was the only Iranian diplomat during the Cold War who served at the United Nations, Washington and Moscow during his tenure as diplomat. He was fluent in German, French, English, Kurdish and Persian.

Private life

Ardalan married in 1939 to Mehri Esfandiary, grand-daughter of Haj Mohtasham Saltaneh Esfandiari, President of the Majles for many years. She bore him two sons: Manoutchehr and Cyrus.