IOR/L/PS/12/3451

Printed copies of reports entitled Biographies of Leading Personalities in Persia (also referred to in the file as Who’s Who in Persia, and Report on Personalities in Persia). The reports were compiled by officials at the British Legation in Tehran, and updated periodically. The file contains copies for the years 1929 (ff 5-14), 1930 (ff 24-34), 1931 (ff 37-45), 1932 (ff 53-62), 1943 (ff 69-100), and 1946 (ff 106-124). The last report in the file is entitled Personalities in Persia: Military Supplement. This report is typescript rather than printed, and dated 1947 (ff 133-174).

The reports for 1929 and 1930 arrange Persian notables in order of importance, beginning with the Shah and Minister of Court, Mirza Abdul Hussein Khan Taimourtache [Abdolhossein Teymūrtāsh]. The remaining reports arrange individuals alphabetically by their family name. All reports contain biographical notes, such as background, family, and career. Many also include an assessment of their character and demeanour, their disposition towards the British, and foreign languages spoken. The 1947 report specifically concerns individuals in the Persian military, with their biographies restricted to their military careers.

The file also includes some correspondence, covering: the distribution of the reports; biographies submitted by the British Legation in Tehran for inclusion in future editions of the reports; the resignation and reconstitution of the Government in 1946, with biographies of those making up the new cabinet (ff 129-131).

The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.