Howard Baskerville

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Howard Conklin Baskerville
Howard Baskerville
Born	Howard Conklin Baskerville 10 April 1885 North Platte, Nebraska, United States
Died	19 April 1909(1909-04-19) (aged 24) Tabriz, East Azerbaijan, Sublime State of Persia
Burial place	Tabriz, East Azerbaijan, Iran
Nationality	American
Parent(s)	Henry Embry Coleman Baskerville Emma R. Baskerville

Howard Conklin Baskerville (10 April 1885 – 19 April 1909) was an American missionary teacher.^[1] His life ambition was to become a pastor. He worked as a teacher employed by the American missionaries at the American Memorial School in Tabriz, a Presbyterian mission school, and was killed during the Persian constitutional revolution in an attempt to break the siege of Tabriz.^[2] He is often referred to as the "American Lafayette of Iran" and the "American Martyr of the Iranian Constitutional Movement".^[3]

Howard Baskerville came to Tabriz in the fall of 1907 to teach history. His arrival in Iran coincided with the period when Mohammad Ali Shah in Tehran shut down the parliament and dismantled the constitutional basis and ruled the period that is known as "The short tyranny" in Iran. At the same time, the people of Tabriz, led by Sattar Khan and Baqer Khan, rose up to restore constitutionalism, and subsequently, pro-Shah forces besieged Tabriz. After 11 months of siege and due to lack of medicine and food, a group in Tabriz called the "Foj Nejat" or Rescue squad led by Baskerville was formed to break the siege. Baskerville, who had attended in the military service in the United States, decided to teach military exercises to young people instead of "narrating the history of the dead" as he called it. At the same time, the death of Seyed Hassan Sharifzadeh, a close friend of Baskerville, upset him so much that in response to the wife of the US consul in Tabriz, who asked him to leave the ranks of constitutionalists, he withdrew his passport and said: "The only difference between me and these people is my birthplace, and this is not a big difference." During the battle that took place in the Shanb Ghazan between the rescue squad led by Baskerville and the besiegers, Baskerville was killed by a bullet that hit him in the chest. After his death, a large funeral was held at the American Cemetery in Tabriz, which, according to Albert Charles Ratislaw, the British Consul in Tabriz, was a very impressive ceremony. Shortly afterward, Sattar Khan took Baskerville's rifle (which was in his hand at the time of his death), engraved his name and date of death on it and wrapped it in the Iranian flag, and sent it to his family in the United States.^{[citation needed]}

Soroush Esfahani, an Iranian poet, has written in mourning for him and his three hundred Muslim friends: "We are 300 roses and a christian rose (Howard Baskerville) . We don't scare to lose our heads. if that otherwise, we didn't dance in the middle of lovers' celebration."

At present, a half-length statue of him has been installed in the Constitutional House of Tabriz. Some in the United States have suggested that April 19 be marked as "Iranian-American Friendship Day", the anniversary of Howard Baskerville's assassination.^{[citation needed]}

At present, some unidentified enthusiasts alternately decorate his tombstone in the "Assyrian Cemetery of Tabriz" with fresh yellow flowers.^{[citation needed]}