Mohammad-Ebrahim Bastani Parizi, Iranian writer, researcher, historian and University of Tehran’s Emeritus Professor passed away yesterday (March 25) at age 89.
Born in Pariz town of Kerman in 1925, Bastani Parizi became a prolific writer, historian and professor with numerous books and articles on various subjects. He received his PhD degree in History from the University of Tehran with a dissertation on Ibn Athir and since then had been teaching there as a history professor.
Bastani Parizi is best known for his books mostly popular reads on topics such as the history of Iran and the history of his hometown Kerman. Several Iranian officials have also offered condolence messages over the death of well-known historian and author.
Bastani Parizi published his first writings in Bastan and Neda-ye Pariz, two little magazines he had founded in rural Pariz. “Mean Are To Blame, Not Women” is the title of his first article published in Kerman’s Bizari Magazine in 1942 as a prelude to a never-ending journalistic career. He published a large number of articles and translations from Arabic and French in journals and papers like Kayhan, Ettelaat, Khandaniha, Yaqma, Rahnama-ye Ketagb, Ayandeh, Kelk, and Bukhara.
The Thieves’ Prophet, his debut book monograph on humorous letters of Shaikh Mohammad-Hassan Zeid-Abadi, released in 1945 in Kerman, has reached 16 reprints. Unlike most historical books, Bastani Parizi’s historical books have a touch of humor, proverbs, poetry and fables.
His most-known book, From Pariz to Paris, is a travelogue that relates his jourvey from the small village of Pariz to the beautiful city of Paris which is to the consensus of Persian readers and critics, one of the most beautiful contemporary prose works ever written.
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