Henry Flavelle Forbes

Henry Flavelle Forbes (1877 – 30 November 1959) was a member of the Imperial Civil Service who played a notable part in the modern history of Iraq.

He was born in South Dublin, Ireland, when that part of Ireland was still part of the United Kingdom. Educated at Wesley College (Dublin), he graduated from Trinity College, Dublin University, where he was a Senior Exhibitioner in History and Politics.

He married Muriel Jessie Handyside, sister of a senior officer of the Indian Police Service, Eric Charles Handyside. Her initiative led to the foundation of a library in Baghdad that later became the basis of the Iraq National Library and Archive.

He was made a Companion of the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire in 1919 for services in the Indian Political Department "in, and in connection with, the Military Operations in Mesopotamia." As President of the Court of Appeal in Iraq, he wrote a substantial review of one of the more significant civil laws that had been inherited from the Ottoman government.