Hushang Ansary
Hushang Ansary | |
|---|---|
هوشنگ انصاری | |
Ansary in 1977 | |
| Minister of Finance | |
| In office 1 March 1974 – 23 December 1977 | |
| Prime Minister | Amir-Abbas Hoveyda Jamshid Amouzegar |
| Preceded by | Jamshid Amouzegar |
| Succeeded by | Mohammad Yeganeh |
| Minister of Tourism and Information | |
| In office 29 December 1971 – 1 March 1974 | |
| Prime Minister | Amir-Abbas Hoveyda |
| Preceded by | Hassan Pakravan |
| Succeeded by | Mohammad Reza Ameli Tehrani |
| Ambassador of Iran to the United States | |
| In office 25 May 1967 – 1 October 1969 | |
| Prime Minister | Amir-Abbas Hoveyda |
| Preceded by | Khosrow Khosrovani |
| Succeeded by | Amir Aslan Afshar |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 16 July 1927 |
| Died | 3 January 2026 (aged 98) |
| Party |
|
| Spouses |
|
| Relations | Cyrus A. Ansary (brother) |
| Children | 2, including Nina |
Hushang Ansary (Persian: هوشنگ انصاری, 16 July 1927 – 3 January 2026) was an Iranian-American diplomat, businessman, and philanthropist. He served in the Imperial Iranian government for 18 years prior to the Iranian Revolution, including as minister of finance from 1974 to 1977 and as ambassador to the United States from 1967 to 1969. He also served as chairman of companies in both Iran and the United States.
Early life
Hushang Ansary was born in Ahvaz, Khuzestan province, on 16 July 1927.[1] He was the older brother of Cyrus A. Ansary.[2]
He began his career as a newspaper and magazine photographer in Ahvaz, Tehran, and the United Kingdom before moving to Japan in 1954, where he continued his work in photography.
Career
Imperial Iranian government
In Japan, Ansary met Abbas Aram, Iran's ambassador to Japan, who brought him to the attention of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. The Shah asked Ansary to return to Iran and subsequently appointed him to several government positions beginning in 1961, including undersecretary of commerce, ambassador to Pakistan, and minister of information.[3]
From May 1967 to October 1969, Ansary served as Iran's ambassador to the United States.[4] In 1974, he became minister of finance. During this period, he assisted the Shah in providing millions of dollars in aid and grants to other countries and signed an agreement with U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to develop eight nuclear power plants in Iran.[5]
Ansary was described as one of the richest men in Iran during the Pahlavi era.[6] By the mid-1970s, the CIA considered him to be one of the seventeen members of "the Shah's Inner Circle" and one of the leading candidates to succeed Amir Abbas Hoveyda as prime minister of Iran. Ultimately, the position was awarded to Jamshid Amouzegar, a leading progressive member of the Rastakhiz Party, rather than to Ansary, who was associated with more establishment positions.[7] In November 1977, he was appointed director of the National Iranian Oil Company.[8]
Later activities
As the Iranian Revolution neared, Ansary resigned from the National Iranian Oil Company and moved to the United States, citing health problems.[8] He became a U.S. citizen in 1986.[9]
In the 1980s, Ansary founded the Parman Group, a holding company focused on leisure industries, textiles, international trade, and real estate. Its holdings included IRI International, a manufacturer of oilfield equipment. In 2005, IRI International was sold to National Oilwell Varco.[10] Ansary served as chairman of Stewart & Stevenson[11] until the company was acquired by Kirby Corporation in September 2018.[12]
Politics
Ansary was a member of the Republican Party and was known to be a friend and business associate of prominent Republican politicians Henry Kissinger, Alexander Haig, and James Baker.[13] He served on the National Finance Committee for the 2004 presidential reelection campaign of George W. Bush.[13][14] In 2015, he and his wife donated $2 million to a Super PAC supporting the presidential campaign of Jeb Bush.[15] In 2017, they donated $2 million to inaugural committee of Donald Trump.[16]
Philanthropy
Ansary was involved in the creation of several medical and educational institutions, such as the University of St. Martin and the James Baker Institute.[9] In February 2014, Ansary supported the A Thousand Years of the Persian Book Exhibition at the Library of Congress.[17]
Personal life
In 1964, Ansary married Maryam Panahi, who held a prominent social cricle in Iranian politics. They had a daughter together, Nina. According to historian Abbas Milani, the marriage later "came to a bitter end".[18] Ansary and his second wife, Shahla, lived in Houston, Texas.[1]
Ansary died of cardiac arrest on 3 January 2026 at the age of 98.[1][19][a]
Awards and honors
- Ellis Island Medal of Honor (2003)[20] and the Woodrow Wilson Award.[9]
- Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University established the Ansary Center for Stem Cell Therapeutics in 2004 in honor of a grant from Ansary and his wife Shahla.[21]
- The American Academy of Diplomacy's Ansary Outreach Program; named in his honor in 2004.[22]
- The Ansary Gallery of American History at the George Bush Presidential Library; named in his honor in 2004.[23]
- James A. Baker III Prize for Excellence in Leadership (2013) [24]
Notes
- ^ Some sources mislabel his death date as "January 4, 2026".
References
- ^ a b c "Hushang Ansary (98) overleden". Antilliaans Dagblad. 5 January 2026. Retrieved 5 January 2026.
- ^ Bill, James A. (1988). The eagle and the lion: the tragedy of American-Iranian relations. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press. p. 374. ISBN 978-0-300-04412-6.
CYRUS ANSARY.
- ^ Milani, p. 80.
- ^ "Foreign relations of the USA". US State Department. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ Milani, pp. 81–83.
- ^ Milani, p. 83: "According to William Shawcross, Ansary 'was one of the richest men' in Iran."; Milani, p. 84: "...he had clearly come to America a very rich man—Forbes called him a 'multimillionaire refugee'—...".
- ^ Milani, p. 84.
- ^ a b Milani, pp. 82–84.
- ^ a b c Hushang Ansary Ellis Island Medal bio Archived 3 September 2005 at the Wayback Machine. National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations. Retrieved 2010-12-18.
- ^ "IRI International Corp.: Private Company Information". Bloomberg News. 25 May 2015. Archived from the original on 25 May 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
- ^ "Hushang Ansary: Executive Profile & Biography". BusinessWeek. Retrieved 18 December 2010.
- ^ "Kirby Corporation Completes the Purchase of Stewart & Stevenson LLC and Reports on the Impact of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma" (Press release).
- ^ a b Staff (9 January 2009). "Donors pay for carrier Bush commissioning". The Virginian Pilot. The Pilot Online. Archived from the original on 6 August 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
- ^ Milani, pp. 79, 84.
- ^ "Million-Dollar Donors in the 2016 Presidential Race". New York Times. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
- ^ "Trump 2017 Inauguration Contributions". OpenSecrets.org |. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
- ^ Urschel, Donna (27 February 2014). ""A Thousand Years of the Persian Book" Exhibition Opens at Library of Congress March 27". Library of Congress. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
- ^ Milani, Abbas (2008). Eminent Persians: the men and women who made modern Iran, 1941–1979 (1st ed.). Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press. pp. 80–84. ISBN 978-0-8156-0907-0.
- ^ "Zakenman Hushang Ansary (98) overleden". Curaçao.nu. 5 January 2026. Retrieved 5 January 2026.
- ^ "Ellis Island Medal of Honor Database". eihonors.org. Ellis Island Honors Society. Archived from the original on 6 September 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
- ^ Weil, Jonathan (May 2004) "New Stem Cell Center at Cornell". Cancer Biology & Therapy (Austin, TX: Landes Bioscience) 3 (5): 425–426.
- ^ "The Ansary Outreach Program" Archived 2011-02-04 at the Wayback Machine. American Academy of Diplomacacy. Retrieved 2010-12-20.
- ^ "Grand Opening of Ansary Gallery". News From the George Bush Presidential Library Center. July 2004. p. 4.
- ^ "James A. Baker III Prize for Excellence in Leadership". bakerinstitute.org. Retrieved 29 December 2018.