Haj Hossein Malek

Hossein Malek was born in Tehran in 1871. His family had moved to Tehran from Tabriz and his grandfather Aqa Mahdi was a commander of the Iranian army during the Iran-Russian war which occurred in early 18th century. But after the war he embarked on a business career and established close relations with the office of the Qajar crown prince who was stationed in Tabriz.

When Mohammad Shah (the 3rd Qajar king) died, Aqa Mahdi helped the crown prince (future Nassereddin Shah) to go to Tehran and ascend the throne. He was rewarded for his help with a number of commercial prerogatives from the new king and earned the title of Malek-ol-Tojjar (Chief Merchant). The family name "Malek" is derived from that title.

After the death of Aqa Mahdi his title and fortune were inherited by his son Mohammad Kazem. He was a sportsman, merchant and poet and had close relations with influential statesmen, and he took advantage of his acquaintance with the influential people to advance his business. Mohammad Kazem engaged in trade in Tehran, and in late 18th century he acquired a lot of land property in Khorassan province in east of Iran, and from that time the Malek family joined the class of great landowners.

Mohammad Kazem enrolled his son Hossein in a traditional school from an early age to learn divinities. One of the teachers in the school was Mirza Abolhassan Jelveh who is considered one of the great Iranian philosophers of the past two centuries. It would be reasonable to assume that Hossein's religious studies were the cause of his interest in and acquaintance with the Islamic-Iranian written heritage. Hossein also enrolled in the French Missionary school called Alliance to learn the French language.

In the third decade of his life Hossein travelled to Khorassan with his father and took over the management of the family estates in the province. Also during that trip and at a visit to the shrine of Imam Reza he became acquainted with some of the most exquisite Iranian-Islamic art works, especially those from the Safavid and Teimurid periods, and later decided to acquire a collection of exquisite manuscripts and establish a large library. In later years, Hossein also became interested in collecting other historical and art works such as paintings, lacquer pen-holders, coins, stamps and carpets.

Hossein inherited a large fortune after the death of his father but he declined to receive the title of Malek-ol-Tojjar, and preferred to manage his father's business concerns and estates. He used the income for charitable and cultural purposes and avoided involvement in political affairs.

Hossein believed that the happiness of the Iranian people depended on two factors: observing hygiene and advancement of culture and science. So he used his fortune for the establishment of medical and cultural institutes.

In 1937 he made an endowment of the large library and all his collections of historical and art works to be used for the benefit of the common people. The library was stationed in his paternal house in Tehran. During the years 1944 to 1955 he also endowed his farmlands and commercial firms in Tehran and Khorassan, stipulating that their income be used for the management and expansion of the library and museum in Tehran. Parts of the income derived form the farms and the trade centers were to be used for the management of a hospital he had established near Mashhad.

Hossein Malek died in 1972 at the age of 101 in his house and library in Tehran. At the time of his death the value of his endowments were estimated to be over several hundred million dollars.