Mehdi Samii
Ambassador-at-large and Advisor to the Prime Minister for International Financing
In office
1971–1973
Prime MinisterAmir-Abbas Hoveyda
Governor of the Central Bank of Iran
In office
1970–1971
Prime MinisterAmir-Abbas Hoveyda
Preceded byKhodadad Farmanfarmaian
Succeeded byAbdolali Jahanshahi
In office
1964–1969
Prime MinisterHassan-Ali Mansur
DeputyKhodadad Farmanfarmaian
Preceded byAli-Asghar Poorhomayoon
Succeeded byKhodadad Farmanfarmaian
Head of Plan and Budget Organization of Iran
In office
1969–1970
Prime MinisterAmir-Abbas Hoveyda
Preceded byMohammad-Safi Asfia
Succeeded byKhodadad Farmanfarmaian
Personal details
Born(1918-06-24)24 June 1918
Tehran, Qajar Iran
Died30 June 2010(2010-06-30) (aged 92)
Los Angeles, California, USA
Political party
RelativesFereydoun Mahdavi

Mehdi Samii (Persian: مهدی سمیعی; 1918–2010) was an Iranian chartered accountant, banker and economist.[1] Samii is credited as "one of the chief architects of Iran's rapid economic and Industrial growth in the 1960s", as well as "a midwife of in the creation of the [Central] bank [of Iran]" and "more than anyone else responsible" for it.[1] According to Abbas Milani, "the fact that the bank was a relatively independent institution, free from corruption and political interference and unusually efficient", is attributed to his leadership.[1]

Biography

Samii was born in Tehran in 1910.[1][2] He held office as the Governor of the Central Bank of Iran (1964–1969; 1970–1971), the head of Plan and Budget Organization of Iran (1969–1971) and Ambassador-at-large (1971–1973).[1] Before that, Samii rejected job offers for ministerial roles twice: Once in 1960 when Jafar Sharif-Emami offered him the role of the minister of agriculture and the next in the following year when Ali Amini proposed that he become minister of commerce.[1]

He was a co-founder of Iranian Institute of Certified Accountants.[1] He died in 2010.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Milani, Abbas (2008). Eminent Persians: The Men and Women who Made Modern Iran, 1941-1979. Vol. 1. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press. pp. 760–767. ISBN 978-0815609070.
  2. 1 2 Mehrzad Boroujerdi (2020). "Rethinking the Legacy of Intellectual-Statesmen in Iran". In Ramin Jahanbegloo (ed.). Mapping the Role of Intellectuals in Iranian Modern and Contemporary History. London: Lexington Books. p. 123. ISBN 978-1-7936-0007-3.


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