Mehdi Samii

Mehdi Samii
مهدی سمیعی
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
Party
RelativesFereydoun Mahdavi

Mohammad-Mehdi Samii (Persian: محمدمهدی سمیعی; 1918–2010) was an Iranian chartered accountant, banker and economist. 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. 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.

Biography

Samii was born in Tehran in 1910. 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). 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.

He was a co-founder of Iranian Institute of Certified Accountants. He died in 2010.

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.