Abul-Ghasem Payandeh
part 1
(1908/1911-1984), journalist, translator, and fiction writer.
PAYANDEH, Abu’l-Ghasem (Abu’l-Qasem Payanda, b. Jowzan, Najfabad, 1908 or 1911; d. Tehran, 8 September 1984), journalist, translator, and fiction writer.
Payandeh was taught reading and writing in a traditional elementary school (maktab; see EDUCATION iii) at his birthplace. In 1922 he went to Isfahan, where he received a traditional education in Arabic language and Islamic sciences and theology (Moshar, 1, column 232). In 1929, he began his cooperation with the newspaper Erfan , a socio-cultural magazine published in Isfahan by Ahmad Maragh-i Erfan (1894-1951). In 1932, he moved to Tehran and began working with the journals SHafaq-e Sorkh and Iran, and ran the magazine Talim o Tarbiyat for a brief period of time. He was soon employed by the Ministry of Information, and was later transferred to the Ministry of Education. In 1947, he was appointed head of the Office of Publications and Information, and began a period of cooperation with the Iranian Academy of Letters (see FARHANGESTAN), an organization which was established in 1935 to promote Persian culture and replace foreign loan words by words of Persian origin (Hosseini, p. 502).
From 1942 to 1951, Payandeh founded the weekly magazine Saba, which enjoyed the cooperation of a host of noted writers and translators.
Payandeh’s fiery editorials against the revolt of Jafar Pishavari, the founder of the separatist Democratic Party of Azerbaijan (Ferqa-ye demokrat-e Azarbaijan; see AZERBAIJAN v), and his criticism of the Prime Minister Qavam-al-Saltana’s apparently pro-Soviet policies and wooing of the Tudeh Party (see COMMUNISM ii), earned Saba popularity and a high circulation (Ettemad, 9, p. 323). Introduced into the world pf politics, Payandeh represented Najafabad in the second Constituent Assembly (Majles-e Moassesan), in May 1949. He was also elected as the deputy for Najafabad to the 21st and 22nd sessions of the Majles, which were inaugurated on September 1963, and September 1967, respectively.
In the highly charged political atmosphere of Iran in the early 1950s, and the sweeping popularity of Mohammad Moلsaddeq, the architect of the nationalization of oil industries who later became prime minister, Payandeh published articles and caricatures, ridiculing Mosaddeq and his nationalistic policies. The ‘politically incorrect strategy,’ as he recalls it in the later stages of his life, soon took its tolls (Etteل¸¥ad, 9, p. 327). ل¹¢aba lost its enthusiastic readers almost overnight, and was eventually closed at 1951 (Behzadi, pp.134-35).
To be continued ...
Sources: wikipedia&Encyclopeidas
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