Bozorg Alavi
Birth name	Bozorg Alavi
Born	February 2, 1904 Tehran, Iran
Died	February 18, 1997 Berlin, Germany
Nationality	Iranian
Field	Writer, novelist and political activist
Works	Chashm'hā'yash (Her Eyes)

Bozorg Alavi (بزرگ علوی in Persian) (February 2, 1904–February 18, 1997) was an influential Iranian writer, novelist, and political intellectual. He was a founding member of the communist Tudeh Party of Iran in the 1940s and spent the rest of his life in exile in Germany, first during the Pahlavi regime and subsequently following the 1979 revolution. His finest novel is Chashm'hā'yash (Her Eyes), which was published in Iran in 1952 and was subsequently banned. is the 33rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (see link for calendar). ... For other uses, see Tehran (disambiguation). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Iran. ... is the 49th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the band, see 1997 (band). ... This article is about the capital of Germany. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany. ... Farsi redirects here. ... is the 33rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (see link for calendar). ... is the 49th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the band, see 1997 (band). ... The Tudeh Party of Iran (f. ...

Life

Bozorg Alavi (born Seyyed Mojtaba Alavi) was born in Tehran, Iran. He was the third of six children. His father, Abul Hassan Alavi, took part in the 1906 Constitutional Revolution and later published (with Hasan Taqizadeh) the progressive newsletter Kaveh (Kaweh) in Germany. Sayyid (Arabic: سيد also rendered as syed, seyyed, sayyed, saiyed, or sayed) is an honorific title often given to descendants of Muhammad through his grandsons, Hussein and Hasan, the sons of his daughter Fatima Zahra and his son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib (who was Muhammads younger cousin and... For other uses, see Tehran (disambiguation). ... The Persian Constitutional Revolution (also Constitutional Revolution of Iran) against the despotic rule of the last Qajar Shah started in 1905 and lasted until 1911. ... Sayyed Hasan Teqizadeh - سيدحسن تقي زاده Sayyed Hasan[1] Taqizadeh[2] (سيدحسن تقي زاده) (September, 1878, Tabriz, Iran — January, 1970, Tehran, Iran)[3] was an influential politician and diplomat[4] during the Qajar dynasty under the reign of Mohammad Ali Shah, as well as the Pahlavi dynasty under the reign of Reza Shah[5] and Mohammad... Statue of Kaveh in Isfahan My name is Kaveh, I am a Persian-American and live in San Diego. ...

Bozorg Alavi had his primary schooling in Tehran. In 1922 he was sent to Berlin along with his older brother Mortezā, to study. Upon his return to Iran in 1927, he first taught German in Shiraz and later in Tehran. During these years he met and befriended Sadegh Hedayat. Around this time he became active in the meetings held by Dr. Erani and was one of the famous 53 persons who were jailed in 1937 under the regime of Reza Shah for communist activities. Alavi himself claimed that he was not involved politically at the time and simply was in a group of literati, who among other things read communist writings. He was given a 7-year sentence, but was released after 4 years in 1941 after a general amnesty following the Allied control of Iran. Upon his release he published his Scrap Papers of Prison and Fifty Three Persons, and continued his political activities, becoming a founding member of the communist Tudeh Party of Iran and serving as editor of its publication Mardom (People). Alavi was in Germany when the 1953 Coup d'état overthrew the government of Premier Mossadegh and resulted in massive arrests and imprisonment. Alavi stayed in exile in East Berlin, teaching at Humboldt University, until the fall of the Pahlavi dynasty and the emergence of the 1979 Iranian Revolution. For other uses, see Shiraz (disambiguation). ... Sadegh (or Sadeq) Hedayat (in Persian: صادق هدایت), is Irans foremost modern writer of prose fiction and short stories. ... Reza Shah, also Reza Shah the Great, Reza Shah Pahlavi and Reza Pahlavi (Persian: , Rez̤ā PahlavÄ«), (March 16, 1878 – July 26, 1944), was Shah of Iran[1] from December 15, 1925 until he was forced to abdicate after the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran in September 16, 1941 by British... The Tudeh Party of Iran (f. ... Soldiers surround the Parliament building in Tehran on August 19, 1953. ... Mohammed Mossadegh (Persian: محمد مصدق‎) (May 19, 1882 - March 4, 1967) was prime minister of Iran from 1951 to 1953. ... The Pahlavi script was used broadly in the Sasanid Persian Empire to write down Middle Persian for secular, as well as religious purposes. ... This article is about the 1979 revolution in Iran. ...

In spring of 1979 he returned briefly to Iran after 25 years in exile and was warmly received by the Iranian Writers Association, including such writers/poets as Ahmad Shamlou, Mahmoud Dolatābādi, Siāvash Kasrā'ie and others. He returned to Iran a year later in 1980 for another short visit and was dismayed by the repressive turn of the revolution. He continued to lived and work in Berlin, visiting Iran for the last time in 1993. He died in Berlin in 1997. Ahmad Shamlou (Persian: ‎ ) (December 12, 1925 — July 24, 2000) was a Persian poet, writer, and journalist. ... Siavosh Kasrai (1927 , Isfahan - 1997 , Vienna) Kasrai graduated from Tehran University, Faculty of Law. ...

Before his exile, he married his cousin Fatameh Alavi and had a son, Dr. Mani Alavi. In 1956, he married Gertrud Paarszh in Germany who stayed with him until his death.

Selected works

Major Works:

• Chamedan (The Suitcase) (1934)
• Varaq Pareh'ha-ye Zendan (Scrap Papers from Prison) (1941)
• Panjah-o Seh Nafar (Fifty Three Persons) (1942)
• Nameh' ha va Dastan'ha-ye digar (Letters and Other Stories) (1952)
• Chashmhayash (Her Eyes) (1952)

Other Writings:

• Div...Div (Demon...Demon), in the collection Aniran (Non-Iranian) (1931)
• Uzbakha (The Uzbeks) (1948)
• Kampfendes Iran (1955, Berlin)
• Geschichte und Entwicklung der modernen persischen Literatur (1964, Berlin)
• Salariha (The Salari Family)
• Mirza

Translations into Persian:

• Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard
• Samuil Marshak's Twelve Months
• George Bernard Shaw's Mrs. Warren's Profession
• J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls
• Friedrich Schiller's Jungfrau von Orleans
• Theodor Nöldeke's Das Iranische Nationalepos

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (Russian: , IPA: ) was a Russian short story writer and playwright. ... Bust of Anton Chekhov at Badenweiler, Germany The Cherry Orchard (Вишнëвый сад or Vishniovy sad in Russian) is Russian playwright Anton Chekhovs last play. ... Samuil Marshak. ... For the 1956 animated film, see The Twelve Months. ... George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856–2 November 1950) was a world-renowned Irish author. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... John Boynton Priestley (September 13, 1894, Bradford, England - August 14, 1984, Stratford-upon-Avon) was a British writer and broadcaster. ... An Inspector Calls is a play written in 1944-1945 by the British dramatist J. B. Priestley. ... Friedrich Schiller “Schiller” redirects here. ... Theodor Nöldeke (March 2, 1836 - 1930), German Semitic scholar, was born at Harburg, and studied at Göttingen, Vienna, Leiden and Berlin. ...

References

• Donne Raffat, The Prison Papers of Bozorg Alavi: A Literary Odyssey, Syracuse University Press,1985. ISBN 0-8156-0195-6
• Hassan Kamshad, Modern Persian Prose Literature, Ibex Publishers, 1996. ISBN 0-936347-72-4
• Bozorg Alavi, Ehsan Yarshater, John O'Kane, Her Eyes, Rowman & Littlefield (1989). ISBN 0-8191-7344-4