Morteza Gholi Khan Hedayat
Morteza Gholi Khan of the Hedayat family, son of Ali Gholi Khan, was a key leader of the Persian Constitutional Revolution who then became the first Chairman of the first Majlis.
He was the first Finance Minister for seven months when he was assassinated on 6 February 1911 by two Georgian nationals in Tehran. At the time, Persia was being plundered of its resources by the British and Russians who had also obtained taxation rights on all significant sources keeping the county and some of the ruling class under effective financial control. Realizing that a country cannot be independent without self sufficiency and monetary independence, he initiated financial reforms and overhaul of the taxation system, including bringing in the American adviser W. Morgan Shuster. This and his unwillingness to sell out led to his assassination by the Russians.
