Sassoon Eskell

Sir Sassoon Eskell<!-- Alternative spellings of his name exist in historical references, however this is the name as used by Sir Sassoon Eskell himself. Examples of alternatives are: Sassoon Heskel, Sassoon Heskell, Sasson Heskel, Sasson Heskell, Sasun Heskel, Sasun Effendi, etc. -->, KBE (17 March 1860 – 31 August 1932) was an Iraqi statesman and financier. Also known as Sassoon Effendi (from Turkish Effendi, a title meaning Lord). Regarded in Iraq as the Father of Parliament, Sir Sassoon (Arabic: ساسون حسقيل or ساسون حزقيال) was the first Minister of Finance in the Kingdom and a permanent Member of Parliament until his death. Along with Gertrude Bell and T. E. Lawrence (a.k.a. Lawrence of Arabia), he was instrumental in the creation and the establishment of the Kingdom of Iraq post Ottoman rule and it was he himself, who founded the nascent Iraqi government’s laws and financial structure.

He was knighted by His Britannic Majesty King George V in 1923. His Majesty King Faisal I conferred on him the Civil Rafidain Medal Grade II, His Imperial Majesty the Shahinshah awarded him the Shirokhorshid Medal and the Ottoman Empire decorated him...
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