Yasin Hashimi

Yasin al-Hashimi, born Yasin Hilmi Salman (‎; 1884 – 21 January 1937), was an Iraqi politician who twice served as the prime minister. Like many of Iraq's early leaders, al-Hashimi served as a military officer during Ottoman control of the country. He made his political debut under the government of his predecessor, Jafar al-Askari, and replaced him as prime minister shortly after, in August 1924. Al-Hashimi served for ten months before he was replaced, in turn by Abd al-Muhsin as-Sa'dun. Over the next ten years he filled a variety of governmental positions finally returning to the office of prime minister in March 1935. On 30 October 1936, Hashimi became the first Iraqi prime minister to be deposed in a coup, which was led by General Bakr Sidqi and a coalition of ethnic minorities. Unlike al-Askari, who was then his minister of defense, al-Hashimi survived the coup and made his way to Beirut, Lebanon, where he died three months later. His older brother and close ally, Taha al-Hashimi, served as Prime Minister of Iraq in 1941. Early life and family Al-Hashimi was born as "Yasin Hilmi" in Baghdad in 1884, during Ottoman rule. His father, Sayyid Salman, was the mukhtar (headman) of the Barudiyya Quarter of Baghdad and claimed descent from the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The family was middle class, Sunni Muslim and ethnically Arab, although the family's claim of Arab descent has been disputed. According to historian Muhammad Y. Muslih, the family were descendants of the Turkish Karawiyya tribe that settled in Iraq in the 17th century. Military career Ottoman service He enrolled into the Ottoman Military Academy of Istanbul and graduated in 1902. During his time in the academy, he adopted the nisba (surname) "al-Hashimi" in reference to the religiously prestigious Banu Hashim tribe of Muhammad, from which his family claimed descent. He performed well at the academy and was recognized for his military skills. In 1913 he was stationed in Mosul and joined al-Ahd, an underground Arab nationalist society composed of Ottoman Arab officers. The branch in Mosul had been founded by al-Hashimi's brother Taha and was led by al-Hashimi. Among the officers under al-Hashimi's command were future Iraqi statesmen and military figures, including Mawlad Mukhlis, Ali Jawdat al-Aiyubi and Jamil al-Midfai.