Moshfegh Hamadani

Early life and education

Hamadani was born in Hamadan, Iran, in 1914. His father Davood Kohan, son of Yitzak, was a merchant in this ancient city. Raby’s grandfather Yitzak travelled to Jerusalem three times on foot to visit the sacred city, receiving the title of Haji Yitzak.

Hamadani attended the Alliance Israelite School in Hamadan, where he became fluent in French. During his childhood and teen-age years, as reported in his published memoirs he experienced the bitter taste of antisemitism . But the overthrow of the corrupt Qajar dynasty by Reza Shah in 1925 had infused a new wave of education, progress and modernization throughout the country. Growing up in this atmosphere of hope, Hamadani became convinced that following the path of democracy and political freedom was the only means to achieve prosperity and that Iran needed the energetic infusion of a talented and well educated younger generation to reestablish her place among the great nations of the Middle East. In 1931, at the age of 17, Hamadani graduated from high school and decided to play a role in this new wave of modernization and freedom. He left his family and traveled to Tehran to continue his studies. He enrolled in the Department of Philosophy and Educational Sciences of the University of Tehran, where he graduated in 1939 while teaching French as a second language at the prestigious Dar-ol-Fonun دارالفنون high school of Tehran.

Career

Hamadani took the first of many steps on the path of journalism and authorship, translating Schopenhauer’s work “The Philosophy of Love” into Persian. His literary work continued in parallel with his employment first as a teacher of French language and literature and later as an employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he was first appointed as French translator and shortly promoted to Director of the Pars News Agency, overseeing the translation of international news for the Iranian press. He continued contributing to Persian literature by translating works by Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Flaubert, Schopenhauer, Lockhart, John Dewey, among others, exposing Iranian readers to many masterpieces of the western literature as well as modern concepts in education and psychology. He was a prolific writer, authoring several works of fiction that illustrated the frustrations of a young and well educated generation of Iranians. His books quickly turned into best sellers and paved the way for his career as a well-known author, journalist and translator.

During the Second World War, Hamadani was appointed editor in chief of Keyhan كيهإن the highly circulated and most popular daily newspaper distributed nationally throughout Iran. In his editorials, he embraced and supported the political platform of Mohammad Mossadegh and the National Front of Iran. In 1949, after a few years serving in the capacity of Keyhan’s editor-in-chief, he founded the weekly magazine Kavian كأؤيإن (a politically oriented publication with a distinctly secular and nationalistic voice) and became one of Mossadegh's ardent supporters in the latter's plan to nationalize Iran's oil industry (see Abadan Crisis). He expanded Kavian 's activities to include a printing press capable of color printing the cover pages of Kavian, a novel and unique capability that increased the weekly magazine's popularity and circulation. He also founded a bookstore and publishing company, Bongah Matbouati Safialishah بنكاه مطبوعاتى صفيعليشاه to publish his own as well as other literary works. In 1951 he was invited by President Harry Truman, together with a group of Iranian intellectuals, businessmen and influential journalists, to visit the United States in conjunction with the "International Leadership" program implemented by Truman's administration. Hamadani accompanied Dr. Mossadegh during his visit to the United Nations where the latter defended Iran's claims against the Anglo Iranian Oil Company (AIOC, later renamed British Petroleum) and presented his government's position in regards to the oil nationalization platform of the National Front . However, after the 1953 Iranian coup d'état, Hamadani's stance in supporting Mossadegh would cost him dearly: after the CIA-led coup that overthrew Mossadegh, Kavian 's offices and printing presses were looted and burned. Mossadegh, a number of his cabinet members and all other journalists and politicians that supported him were arrested. Some were accused of conspiring with the Communist Party of Iran (Hezb Tudeh حزب توده) to overthrow the constitutional monarchy system and declare a republic. They were tried in military courts and executed. 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, leaving his printing and publishing businesses to be managed by his brothers. For the next 30 years, he lived in exile in Rome, Italy, where he continued his literary activities by translating various masterpieces from French, English, and Italian 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, where he continued his literary work and published 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. Hamadani passed away in Los Angeles in 2009.