Simin Dāneshvar | |
|---|---|
| سیمین دانشور | |
 | |
| Born | (1921-04-28)28 April 1921 |
| Died | 8 March 2012(2012-03-08) (aged 90)[1] |
| Resting place | Behesht-e Zahra Cemetery |
| Alma mater | University of Tehran Stanford University |
| Occupation(s) | Academic, novelist, fiction writer, literary translator |
| Spouse | Jalal Al-e-Ahmad(1950−1969, his death) |
Simin Dāneshvar[3] (Persian:سیمین دانشور; 28 April 1921 – 8 March 2012) was anIranian[4] academic, novelist, fiction writer, and translator.
She was largely regarded as the first major Iranian woman novelist. Her books dealt with the lives of ordinary Iranians, especially those of women, and through the lens of recent political and social events in Iran at the time.[5] Daneshvar had a number of firsts to her credit; in 1948, her collection of Persian short stories was the first by an Iranian woman to be published. The first novel by an Iranian woman was herSavushun ("Mourners ofSiyâvash", also known asA Persian Requiem,[6] 1966), which went on to become a bestseller.[7]Daneshvar's Playhouse, a collection of five stories and twoautobiographical pieces, is the first volume of translated stories by anIranian woman author. Being the wife of the famous Iranian writer Jalal al-Ahmad, she had a profound influence on his writing, she wrote the book "the Dawn of Jalal" in memory of her husband. Daneshvar was also a renownedtranslator, a few of her translations were "The Cherry Orchard" by Anton Chekhov and "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Her last book is currently lost and was supposed to be the last book of her trilogy which started with "the lost island". Al-Ahmad and Daneshvar never had a child.[8]
Simin Daneshvar was born on 28 April 1921 inShiraz,Qajar Iran. Her father, Mohammad Ali Daneshvar, was a physician. Her mother was a painter. Daneshvar attended the English bilingual school, Mehr Ain and in eighth grade published her first article, "Winter Is Not Unlike Our Life," in a local newspaper.[9] Daneshvar then entered thePersian literature department at theUniversity of Tehran in the fall of 1938. In 1941, her third year of university, her father died, and to support herself she began writing pieces for Radio Tehran as the "Nameless Shirazi". She wrote about cooking and food as well as other things. She also began writing for the foreign affairs section of a newspaper in Tehran, since she could translate from English.
Daneshvar started her literary life in 1935, when she was in the eighth grade.[10] In 1948, when she was 27, she publishedAtash-e khamoosh (Quenched Fire). It was the first collection of short stories published by a woman in Iran, and as such gave her a measure of fame, but in later years Daneshvar refused to republish the work because she was embarrassed by the juvenile quality of the writing.[11] Daneshvar continued studying at the university. Her Ph.D. dissertation, "Beauty as Treated in Persian Literature," was approved in 1949 under the supervision of ProfessorBadiozzaman Forouzanfar.[12] In 1950, Daneshvar married the well-known Iranian writerJalal Al-e Ahmad.[13] Simin’s sister (Victoria Daneshvar) said: we have gone to Isfahan and when we have decided to get back to Tehran, there was a man, he asked my sister to sit on his side. So Miss Simin sat next to him. The next morning, I saw my sister who was getting ready to go out. I have decided to go out too. When I opened the door, I saw Mr. Al-Ahmad. They got married on the ninth day of their visit. For the wedding, they invited all of the writers, evenSadegh Hedayat. They rented a house and started living there. In 1952, she traveled to the United States as aFulbright Fellow working on creative writing atStanford University withWallace Stegner. While there, she wrote in English and published two short stories. When she returned toIran, she joined the faculty atUniversity of Tehran.[10]
She had to translate many books in order to support her household, often was earning more than Jalal. In 1961, she published "Shahri chun behesht" (A city like paradise), twelve years after her first short story collection. In 1963, she attended theHarvard University International Summer Session, a seminar of 40 members from around the world. In 1968, she became the chairwoman of the Iranian Writers Union.[14] In 1969, her novel,Suvashun, was published. Her husband died that same year, in their summer home on theCaspian Sea.
Daneshvar and Al-e-Ahmad were unable to have children, which was a topic thatJalal Al-e-Ahmad wrote about in several of his works.[citation needed] Daneshvar continued teaching as an associate professor in the university, later becoming the chair of the Department of Art History and Archaeology, from the 1970s until her retirement in 1981.[14][10]
Daneshvar was hospitalised in Tehran for acute respiratory problems in 2005. She was released after one month in August 2005. She died at her home inTehran on 8 March 2012 after a bout with influenza.[15] Her body was buried on 11 March atBehesht-e Zahra.
It had been announced that her body would be buried in Firouzabadi mosque inRay next to her husband,Jalal Al-e-Ahmad, but this was later denied.
As an author and translator, Daneshvar wrote sensitively about the lives of Iranian women.
Daneshvar's most successful work,Savushun,[16][17] a novel about settled and tribal life in and around her home-town of Shiraz, was published in 1969. One of the best-selling Persian novels, it has undergone at least sixteen reprints and has been translated into many languages. She also contributed to the periodicalsSokhan andAlefba.[18]
In 1981, she completed a monograph onJalal Al-e Ahmad,Ghoroub-e Jalal (The sunset of Jalal's days).
Daneshvar's stories reflect reality rather than fantasy. They contain themes such as child theft, adultery, marriage, childbirth, sickness, death, treason, profiteering, illiteracy, ignorance, poverty and loneliness. The issues she deals with are the social problems of the 1960s and 1970s, which have immediacy and credibility for the reader. Her inspiration is drawn from the people around her. In her own words: "Simple people have much to offer. They must be able to give freely and with peace of mind. We, too, in return, must give to them to the best of our abilities. We must, with all our heart, try to help them acquire what they truly deserve."[19]
In Language of Sleep, a biography play which attempts to portray the lives of two great female authors, German-Romanian novelistHerta Muller and herself Simin Daneshvar was written by Mona Ahmadi.[20]
