Hassan Taqizadeh

Hasan Taghizadeh (Persian: حسن تقی‌زاده; 27 September 1878 in Tabriz, Iran – 28 January 1970 in Tehran, Iran) was an influential Iranian politician and diplomat, of Azerbaijani origin, during the Qajar era under the reign of Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar, as well as the Pahlavi era under the reigns of Reza Shah and Mohammad Reza Shah. Taqizadeh was also a prominent scholar; his studies on Iranian calendars remain reference work up until now.

Although in the modern political history Taqizadeh is known as a secular politician, who believed that "outwardly and inwardly, in body and in spirit, Iran must become Europeanized", he came from a traditional Islamic Sayyed-family (descendant of Muhammad). His father, Sayyed Taqi, was a clergyman and when Sayyed Hasan became a mullah, it seemed likely that he would follow in his father's footsteps. From an early age Taqizadeh showed interest in enlightened ideas and the Western concept of constitutionalism. This interest can be traced back to the socio-political sphere in which Taqizadeh became an adult. He grew up in Tabriz, the capital city of East Azerbaijan province, which was the gateway to the modern and progressive ideas coming from Russia and especially Western Europe. During, and following, World War I and World War II, Taqizadeh was the most influential person in Iran who supported the interests of Germany against Russia and Britain.