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Sir Sassoon Eskell, KBE (; 17 March 1860 – 31 August 1932), also known as Sassoon Effendi was an Iraqi statesman, politician and financier. He is regarded in Iraq as the Father of Parliament. Eskell was the first Minister of Finance in the Kingdom and a permanent Member of Parliament until his death. Along with Gertrude Bell and T. E. Lawrence, he was instrumental in creating and establishing the Kingdom of Iraq post-Ottoman Empire rule, and he founded the nascent Iraqi government's laws and financial structure.
Eskell was one of the most prominent Jews in Iraq. He was knighted by King George V in 1923. King Faisal I conferred on him the Civil Rafidain Medal Grade II, the Shahinshah awarded him the Shir-o-khorshi medal and the Ottoman Empire decorated him with the Al-Moutamayez Medal.
Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell referred to him and his brother Shaoul in a letter to her father dated 14 June 1920, as follows:
"I'm making great friends with two Jews, brothers—one rather famous, as a member of the Committee of Union and Progress and a deputy for Baghdad. His name is Sasun Eff. The other Sha'al, (which is Saul) is the leading Jew merchant here. They have recently come back from C'ple Istanbul—they were at the first tea party I gave for you, here. I've known Sha'al's wife and family a long time—they are very interesting and able men. Sasun, with his reputation and his intelligence, ought to be a great help".Bell also wrote of Sassoon on 17 October 1920:
"That night Mr Philby dined with me and we had a long and profitable talk. He had been to tea with me also and I had Sasun Eff. to meet him which was most valuable, for Sasun is one of the sanest people here and he reviewed the whole position with his usual wisdom and moderation".
To reach a final conclusion on the choice for ruler Winston Churchill, then British colonial secretary, summoned a small group of Orientalists to Egypt for the famous Cairo Conference of March 1921. The British Empire's best minds on the Middle East would determine the fate of Mesopotamia, Transjordan and Palestine. Churchill's objectives were to save money by reducing Britain's overseas military presence; find a way to maintain political control over Britain's mandate areas as identified in the Sykes-Picot Agreement; protect what was then suspected to be substantial oil reserves in Iraq; and lastly preserve an open trade route to India, the Crown Jewel of the empire. Representing the Iraqis, two members of the council were picked to join the delegation: Sassoon Eskell and Jafar Pasha al-Askari; with the disliked Talib al-Naqib left behind. It was at this conference, with Sassoon's and Jafar Pasha's approval that Emir Faisal was chosen for the throne of Iraq.
Gertrude Bell described Sassoon's ministerial qualities in another letter dated 18 December 1920:
"The man I do love is Sasun Eff. and he is by far the ablest man in the Council. A little rigid, he takes the point of view of the constitutional lawyer and doesn't make quite enough allowance for the primitive conditions of the 'Iraq, but he is genuine and disinterested to the core. He has not only real ability but also wide experience and I feel touched and almost ashamed by the humility with which he seeks—and is guided by—my advice. It isn't my advice, really; I'm only echoing what Sir Percy thinks. But what I rejoice in and feel confident of is the solid friendship and esteem which exists between us. And in varying degrees I have the same feeling with them all. That's something, isn't it? that's a basis for carrying out the duties of a mandatory?”
And again in correspondence dated 7 February 1921:
"I do love Sasun Eff; I think he is out and away the best man we've got and I am proud and pleased that he should have made friends with me. He is an old Jew, enormously tall and very thin; he talks excellent English, reads all the English papers, and is entirely devoid of any self-interest. He has no wish to take any further part in public life but he says he is convinced that the future of his country—if it is to have a future—is bound up with the British mandate and as long as we say he can help us he is ready to put himself at our service. He made a very considerable name in the Turkish Chamber where he sat as a strong Committee man. Some day I mean to make him tell me all he really thought about the Committee. One can talk to him as man to man, and exchange genuine opinions"During his period as Minister of Finance, Sassoon founded all the financial and budgeting structures and laws for the Kingdom and looked whole-heartedly after the interests of the monarchy and the proper fulfilment of its laws. Rather famously, one of his most financially prolific deeds for the State was during negotiations with the British Petroleum Company in 1925. Eskell demanded that Iraq's oil revenue be remunerated in gold rather than Pound sterling; at the time, this request seemed bizarre since sterling was backed by the gold standard. Nevertheless, his demand was reluctantly accepted. This concession later benefited Iraq's treasury during World War II, when the gold standard was abandoned and sterling plummeted. He thus secured countless additional millions of for the State.
In 1925 he was elected deputy for Baghdad in the first parliament of the Kingdom and was re-elected to all successive parliaments until his death. In the Iraqi parliament he was chairman of the financial committee and was regarded as the Father of Parliament, in light of his vast parliamentary knowledge, depth of experience and venerable age. His advice was taken on all parliamentary matters. He arbitrated and his views were accepted, whenever a conflict arose concerning the enforcement of internal regulations. He was considered to be a far-sighted statesman with a profoundly deep knowledge of Iraq and other countries. He was connected and well acquainted with most major European statesmen of the time.
All leading Arabic daily newspapers similarly eulogised the late Sassoon's character and achievements, saying that the services which had been rendered by the deceased for the welfare of his country will immortalise his great name, adding that his death was an irreparable loss to the nation.
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