Ehsan Tabari (; 8 February 1917 – 29 April 1989) was an Iranian philosopher, poet, and a literary giant who played a major role in modernization in literature and cultural enlightenment in the twentieth century in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. He also fostered a deep understanding of

Marxist philosophy Marxist philosophy or Marxist theory are works in philosophy that are strongly influenced by Karl Marx's Historical materialism, materialist approach to theory, or works written by Marxists. Marxist philosophy may be broadly divided into Wester ...

in Iran. A founding member and theoretician of the

Tudeh Party of Iran The Tudeh Party of Iran is an Iranian communist party. Formed in 1941, with Soleiman Mirza Eskandari as its head, it had considerable influence in its early years and played an important role during Mohammad Mosaddegh's campaign to nationalize ...

, he was an active participant in the advancement of the political process whose aim was social progress and elimination of economic disparity in twentieth-century Iran.

Biography

Tabari was born in 1917 in Sari, Mazandaran, Iran. Tabari was fluent in eight languages, and he wrote and translated poetry and did research in linguistics. He returned to Iran in 1979 after the overthrow of the

Shah Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...

, but was arrested in 1983 along with other leaders of the Tudeh Party of Iran. In May 1984, after being subjected to barbaric physical and psychological torture in prison, including months of solitary confinement, and without the benefit of being represented by a lawyer, the

Islamic Republic of Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

presented a broken man to the world, claiming to have made Tabari "convert to Islam". Disbelief about the sincerity of Tabari's conversion has been fed by the fact that after giving a confessional speech to other political prisoners at

Evin prison Evin Prison () is a prison located in the Evin neighborhood of Tehran, Iran. The prison has been the primary site for detaining Iran's political prisoners since 1972, before and after the Iranian Revolution, in a purpose-built wing nicknamed "E ...

he was asked by the prison warden "to deny outright the rumor that he had cast himself into the role of a `

Galileo Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei ( , , ) or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a poly ...

.`" Tabari gave not a clear denial but a "long convoluted response", and after his "confession" he remained "not only incarcerated but also in total isolation – even from his own family". ource: 56: M. Faraz, "Prison Memoirs" Ettehad-e Kar 20 (June 1991); 16-17 Abrahamian, ''Tortured Confessions'', (1999), (p.208) Tabari died on April 29, 1989, of kidney and heart failure, under house arrest in Tehran.

Biography

References

Further reading