Tawfiq al-Suwaidi

Tawfiq al-Suwaidi (; 11 May 1892 – 15 October 1968) was an Iraqi politician who served as the prime minister of Iraq on three occasions stretching from 1929 to 1950. Early life and education Al-Suwaidi was born in Baghdad in 1892, he completed his early schooling at 16 and after a year in the local law college, travelled to Istanbul in 1909 where he continued his studies in the Istanbul College of Law. After completing his studies in Istanbul (graduation 1912) Tawfiq al-Suwaidi's was sent to the Sorbonne in Paris, by his father, to further his Law education. Al - Suwaidi returned to Iraq after finishing his studies in Paris in 1914. He joined the Ministry of Education as a secretary to the committee for the renovation of Shamsuddin Sami's famous French-Turkish Dictionary. Career During the first world war, as well as working as a lawyer, Al -Suwaidi worked as a teacher in the Law college in Damascus, teaching Roman and general international law. He accepted these posts after rejecting a judgeship in Dair al - Zor and resigning from a judgeship in Damascus - al-Suwaidi was adamant to take a professional salary paying position rather than a position of prestige in order to repay his father for his European education. It was in 1928, upon the resignation of the Saadan ministry, that Tawfik al- Sowaidi was appointed premier and called to form his first cabinet. He thus became the youngest premier in Iraq's history.