Tahir Yahya

Head of state or government

Tahir Yahya was Prime Minister of Iraq twice, from 1963 to 1965 and a short term in 1967 to 1968. He was educated at the Baghdad Military College and the Staff College. Born in Tikrit 1916, he was the 4th child to Mulla Yahya el-ogaily, a prominent tobacco merchant between North and Central Iraq. At the age of sixteen, he joined the Baghdad Teachers College, then became a teacher in Baghdad for one year after graduation. He then pursued further education in military sciences. He was a cavalry officer and played polo for the Iraqi army. He led the Iraqi armored company where he was wounded in the battle at the Kfar Masaryk, earning two medals bestowed by Crown Prince Abd al-Ilāh.