Melkum Khan was born to an
Armenian Christian family in Iran and educated at the Samuel Muradian school in Paris from 1843 to 1851. He later returned to Iran and entered government service. In 1852, he was elected as instructor at the newly established Polytechnic in
Tehran, the
Dar ul-Funun. In 1857, he went to Paris in a diplomatic service. In 1859, Melkum Khan introduced societies similar to the
Freemasons in Iran{{cite thesis|author=Amin Banani |title=Impact of the West on Iran, 1921-1941: A study in modernization of social institutions|id=|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/301883678 From London, Melkum Khan attacked both the shah and the Iranian government, and edited the newssheet
Qanun, which was banned in Iran but read by the shah and his ministers. Melkum Khan eventually became recognised as the most important Persian moderniser of the century, and he was later pardoned and reinstated as ambassador to Italy by
Mozaffar ad-Din Shah, Nasser ad-Din Shah's son and successor, in 1898 with the title of
Nezam od-Dowleh. He remained ambassador to Italy until his death in 1908. == See also ==