Portrait of Raby Moshfegh Hamadani by Mehdi Sadjadi on 7/10/1954 (drawn in ten minutes)
Raby Moshfegh Hamadani (
Iranian Jewish
political journalist and writer.
Early life and education
Hamadani was born in Hamadan, Iran, in April 1912. His father Davoud Kohan, son of Yitzak, was a Jewish merchant in this ancient city, which since immemorial times has been a center of commerce on the Silk Road and was once the capital of the Persian Empire (Ecbatana). Raby’s grandfather Yitzak had travelled to Jerusalem three times by horse and carriage to visit the sacred city, receiving the title of "Haji Yitzak" and was highly respected as a member of the Jewish community of Hamadan.
Hamadani attended the
Qajar dynasty in 1925 by Reza Shah when Raby was thirteen years old, infused a new wave of education, progress and modernization throughout the country.[2] Growing up in this atmosphere of hope and enthusiasm, the young, idealist Hamadani became convinced that embracing Reza Shah's modernization policy was a necessary step for tha advancement of Iran in general and for achieving equality for the Jewish minority in a Muslim society where they were seldom treated as equals. Reza Shah planned to follow the path of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk of Turkey to curtail the power of the religious clerics that historically held a strong grip on society and exerted considerable political power in all aspects of Iranian society. A modernization plan appeared to be the only means to achieve equality and prosperity for Iranian Jews and other members of religious minorities. Iran needed the energetic infusion of the talented and well-educated younger generation to reestablish her place among the great nations of the Middle East. In 1931, the young high school graduate decided to travel to Tehran, to become involved in this new wave of modernization. He was determined to participate in the admission exams at the newly founded University of Teheran. He passed the entrance examinations with honors and enrolled in the Department of Literature of the University. He did not have the financial means for paying his tuition, and sold his violin and was fortunate enough to get a job, upon recommendation from one of his high-school teachers, to teach French language at the prestigious Dar ul-Funun (Persia) دارالفنون high school of Tehran. He graduated in 1939 from the University with a degree in Philosophy and Educational Sciences. As partial fulfilment of the graduation requirements, he translated and defended Schopenhauer's
selected works, containing difficult and controversial philosophical essays on women and the meaning of Love.
Career
Cover of Kavian Magazine, Vol.4, No. 24 "Dr.Baghayee's Cabinet" (Thursday 7 May 1953 few months before the coup d'etat)
Hamadani took the first of many steps on the path of journalism and authorship, by publishing his thesis, "Schopenhauer’s Philosophy of Love”فلسفه عشق شوپنهاور, which brought him great recognition and opened the doors to his subsequent literary and journalistic career. He intensified his literary work while continuing with his employment first as a teacher at
Flaubert, Lockhart, John Dewey and other famous authors, exposing Iranian readers to western masterpieces not available in Persian
at the time. He also translated many volumes on modern concepts in education, sociology and psychology. He was a prolific writer, authoring several works of fiction that first appeared in weekly instalments in renowned magazines of that era, such as Omide Iranأميد أايران, Teherane Mossawarتهران مصور and others. These writings, which were later published as stand-alone books (listed in the following bibliography), had great success in illustrating the frustrations and tribulations of a young and well-educated generation of Iranians confronted by the chaotic socio-political changes caused by the rapid modernization of the country. His books quickly turned into best sellers and received outstanding reviews and litterary prizes, paving the way for his subsequent career as a well-known author, journalist and translator.
Cover of Kavian Magazine, Vol.4. No 15. "Disagreements between the Shah and Mossadegh" (Thursday 19 March 1953)
During the Second World War, Hamadani was appointed editor in chief of Keyhanكيهإن the highly circulated and most popular daily newspaper distributed nationally throughout Iran. In his editorials, he embraced and supported the political platform of nationalizing Iran's oil industry, controlled by the Anglo Iranian Oil Company (AIOC, later renamed British Petroleum BP), as introduced by Dr.
Mohammad Reza Shah. Hamadani's stance against the monarchy and in support of Mossadegh would cost him dearly: after the CIA/MI6-led coup that overthrew Mossadegh,[4]Kavian 's offices and printing presses were looted and burned. Mossadegh, a number of his cabinet ministers and all other journalists and politicians that supported him were arrested. Some were accused of conspiring with the Communist Tudeh Party of Iran (Hezb Tudeh حزب توده) to overthrow the monarchy and institute a new republican constitution. They were treated as traitors and tried in military courts. Some, like Mossadegh's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Hossein Fatemi were executed, while others, like Hamadani were imprisoned. Mossadegh was tried and exiled to his native city of Ahmadabad. Hamadani was eventually banished from Iran. He left his family behind, relinquishing his printing and publishing businesses to be managed by his brothers Parviz, Yahia, Mansour and Nasser.. For the next 50 years, he lived in exile in Rome, Italy, and later in Los Angeles, California, where he continued his literary activities by translating various French, English, and Italian authors into Persian. After the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979 resulting in the immigration of his extended family to the United States, he also left Italy to join them in Los Angeles, and continued to publish numerous articles, books and translations. A documentary film about his life was produced by the Center for Iranian Jewish Oral History and is available from the Library of Congress.[5]
Hamadani died on 2 October 2009.
Bibliography and publications
In addition to the hundreds of articles, short stories and sociopolitical editorials published by Hamadani over the course of his fifty-year career in journalism, his collected writings and translations number well over fifty book titles published in Iran and abroad. His most acclaimed novels include:
- Eshgh wa Eshgh (عشق و عشق, Love and Love)
- Delhoreh haye javani (دلهره هاى جوانى, Anxieties of Youth)
- Tahsil-kardeh ha (تحصيلكردها, The Educated Ones
- Khaterate Neem Gharn Rooznameh Neghari (خاطرات نيم قرن روزنامه نكارى, Memoirs of Half a Century in Journalism).
His translations from English, French and Italian include:
- Childhood and Adolescenceروانشناسي كودك و بالغ (by J.A. Hadfield)
- Discovering Ourselvesروانشناسي براى همه by E.A. Strecher and K.E. Appel; Between
- Parent and Childروابط والدين با فرزندان by Haiim Ginott
- Love Against Hateاعجاز روانكاوى by Karl and Jeanetta Menninger
- Teaching the Slow Learnerكودكان ديرﺁموز by W.B. Featherstone
- Personal Magnetismمانيتيسم شخصى by Paul C. Jagot;
- Secrets of Mind Powerحافظه در روانشناسي by Harry Lorayne.
Sociology:
- Human Nature and Conduct اخلاق و شخصيت,School and the Studentمدرسه و شاكرد , School and Societyمدرسه و اجتماع by John Dewey
- Sociologyجامعه شناسي by Samuel King
- What is Sociology?جامعه شناسي جيست by Alex Inkeles.
Philosophy:
-
Schiller
's masterworks شاهكارهاي شيللر
-
Schopenhauer
's selected works افكار شوبنهاور
References
^Memoirs of Half a Century in Journalism (خاطرات نيم قرن روزنامه نكارى), "Khaterate Neem Gharn Rooznameh Neghari", R. Moshfegh Hamadani, Book World Publishers, Los Angeles, 7/1991 (in Persian)
