Howard Baskerville (April
10,
1885
-
April 19,
1909)
was an
American teacher in the
Presbyterian mission school in
Tabriz,
Iran.
he is often referred to as the "American
Lafayette in Iran". (J. Lorentz)
In
1908, during the
Constitutional Revolution of Iran, he decided to join the
Constitutionalists and fight against the
Qajar despot King
Mohammad Ali Shah. He was shot while leading a group of
student soldiers to break the
Siege of Tabriz.
The affection that many Iranians have for America perhaps
may have roots in
Tabriz, where this
Nebraskan missionary was killed. Baskerville was a teacher
in the American School, one of many such institutions created
by the American missionaries who had worked in the city since
the mid-19th
century. He arrived in
1907
fresh out of
Princeton Theological Seminary to teach at the American
Memorial School in
Tabriz, and was swept up in the revolutionary mood in
Iran, fought a royalist blockade that was starving the city.
On
April 19,
1909,
he led a contingent of 150 nationalist fighters into battle
against the royalist forces. A single bullet tore through his
heart, killing him instantly nine days after his 24th birthday.
Many Iranian
nationalists still revere Baskerville as an exemplar of an
America that they saw as a welcome ally and a useful “third
force” that might break the power of
London and
Moscow in
Tehran.
Iranians still pay tribute to Baskerville and consider him
a
martyr. He is buried in
Tabriz,
Iran.
A sculpture of him is today located in the Tabriz
constitution House as a martyr.
A Persian carpet with his picture woven on it was also made
by the carpet weavers of Tabriz and sent to Baskerville's
mother in America, in recognition of his courage and
sacrifice.
References
See also
External links
