Kioumars Saberi Foumani (August 29, 1941 – April 30, 2004) () also known with his pen name Gol-Agha (), was an Iranian satirist, writer, and teacher.

Education and personal life

Saberi was born during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in Sowme'eh Sara (), a city in

Gilan Province Gilan Province () is one of the 31 provinces of Iran, in the northwest of the country and southwest of the Caspian Sea. Its capital is the city of Rasht. The province lies along the Caspian Sea, in Iran's Regions of Iran, Region 3, west of ...

. His father, originally from

Rasht Rasht (; ) is a city in the Central District (Rasht County), Central District of Rasht County, Gilan province, Gilan province, Iran, serving as the capital of the province, the county, and the district. The city is also known as the "City of ...

, worked for the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance. He was transferred to Sowme'eh Sara in 1938 and then to

Fuman Fuman (; ; died 1542) was Chieftain of the Jianzhou Jurchens and an ancestor of the future Qing dynasty emperors. His father was Sibeoci Fiyanggū. His family name was Aisin Gioro (愛新覺羅). History Fuman was the great-grandfather of Nur ...

in 1942 where he died a few months later. His mother, who was the daughter of a respected cleric and one of the few educated women in the city, taught the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

after the death of her husband. His brother, who was 14 years older, had to leave school at the age of 15 to work to help with the family expenses. Education for Saberi was hard because of his family's poverty and he had to start working in a tailor shop after finishing his elementary education. He also worked in his brother's bicycle repair shop during elementary school and high school. He started high school education at his mother's insistence. At the age of 16, he gained entry to

Sari A sari (also called sharee, saree or sadi)The name of the garment in various regional languages include: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * is a drape (cloth) and a women's garment in the Indian subcontinent. It consists of an un-sti ...

's Agriculture teacher's college () that only accepted one student from Fuman each year. He continued his college education and graduated in 1959. He worked as a teacher from 1959 to 1961. At the age of 20, he took his high school exams and received his high school diploma. He continued his education at the

University of Tehran The University of Tehran (UT) or Tehran University (, ) is a public collegiate university in Iran, and the oldest and most prominent Iranian university located in Tehran. Based on its historical, socio-cultural, and political pedigree, as well as ...

while working as a teacher. He achieved his Bachelor of Science degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

in 1965. He spent most of the 1970s reading and teaching and in 1978 he obtained his master's degree in

comparative literature Comparative literature studies is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across language, linguistic, national, geographic, and discipline, disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role ...

from the

. Saberi got married in 1966 and he had a daughter and a son. His son died in a car accident in 1985 but this sad incident did not stop him from reaching his goal, which was to make people smile. Kioumars Saberi Foumani died on April 30, 2004.

Political involvement

During his first year at university, Saberi was arrested for participating in student demonstrations and started to write

political satire Political satire is a type of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics. Political satire can also act as a tool for advancing political arguments in conditions where political speech and dissent are banned. Political satir ...

in ''

Towfigh ''Towfigh'', also known as ''Tawfiq'', () was a weekly satirical magazine which was published between 1923 and 1971 in Tehran, Iran, with some interruptions. It was among the critics of the Pahlavi rule. The journal went through three phases: f ...

'' magazine. ''

'' magazine was Iran's most respected pro-democracy political satire magazine, with the highest circulation in Iranian history. Its editor in chief was Hossein Towfigh who, along with his brothers Hassan and Abbas, turned ''

'' magazine into the most influential journal in Iranian history. Saberi became one of the many staff writers of ''

'' magazine. After the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

, he became the cultural advisor for

Mohammad Ali Rajai Mohammad-Ali Rajai (; 15 June 1933 – 30 August 1981) was an Iranian politician who served as the second president of Iran from 2 August 1981 until his assassination four weeks later. Before his presidency, Rajai had served as prime minister un ...

. One of his other political posts was as the counselor to the minister of Housing and Urban Development of Iran.

Writings

Saberi composed his first poem of the

ghazal ''Ghazal'' is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss, or separation from the beloved, and t ...

form when he was 14 and he named it "Orphan" (). His first published writing was another poem called "Orphan" which was published in ''Omid Iran'' magazine. His writings before the

were mainly published in ''Towfigh''. He was one of the contributors of a political satire magazine '' Tawfiq''. His pen names in the magazine included ''Mirza-Gol'' (), ''Abdolfanoos'' (), ''Rish-Sefid'' (; meaning a white-bearded and knowledgeable person), ''Lode'' ( clown), ''Gardan-Shekasteye-Fumani'' (; meaning "a person from Fuman with broken neck"). Following the Revolution, Saberi worked in different political positions before deciding to leave politics. He was in charge of ''Roshde-Adabe-Farsi'' magazine and sometimes he wrote for the ''Ettelaat'' newspaper. He started a column called "Do-Kalame-Harfe-Hesab" in ''Ettelaat'' in 1984 that was a starting point for

s after the revolution. He continued writing for this column for six years until he started his own magazine called ''Gol-Agha'' in 1990. His courageous and powerful writings were appreciated by many famous authors such as Mohammad Ali Jamalzadeh. Saberi received first prize in press exhibition of 1992 and 1994 and second prize in 1993. He stopped writing for ''Ettelaat'' in 1993. The main characters in his writings are Gol-Agha, Shagholam, ''Mamasadegh'', ''Kamineh'' (The wife of Mamasadegh), ''Mash-Rajab'' and ''Ghazanfar''. In 2003 in his last editorial in ''Gol-Agha'', Saberi announced that publishing ''Gol-Agha'' would be stopped without providing any reasons, explicitly. He wrote that he has been thinking most of his time for the last three months, and tried to write this announcement many times. His publications include: # ''The Command from

Ali Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until his assassination in 661, as well as the first Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Born to Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib an ...

to Malik ibn Ashter'' (1978) () # Analyzing the story of

Zahhak use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates ...

and

Kaveh the Blacksmith Kaveh the Blacksmith (, ) is a figure in Iranian mythology who leads an uprising against a ruthless foreign ruler, Zahāk. His story is narrated in the ''Shahnameh'', the national epic of Iran (Persia), by the 10th-century Persian poet Ferdow ...

() # ''The Correspondence between Shahid Rajai and

Banisadr Abolhassan Banisadr (; 22 March 1933 – 9 October 2021) was an Iranian politician, writer, and political dissident. He was the first president of Iran after the 1979 Iranian Revolution abolished the Pahlavi dynasty, monarchy, serving from Febr ...

'' () # ''The First interpellation in the Islamic Republic of Iran'' () # ''Visiting the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

'' () # ''Collection of Do-Kalame-Harfe-Hesab (Volume 1, 2, 3, 4)'' ()

References

Kioumars Saberi Foumani's biography
(in Persian)

External links

Kioumars Saberi Foumani Official Website

Gol-agha Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saberi Foumani, Kioumars 20th-century Iranian poets Iranian satirists People from Fuman 1941 births 2004 deaths Burials at artist's block of Behesht-e Zahra Faculty of Letters and Humanities of the University of Tehran alumni

Education and personal life

Political involvement

Writings

See also

References

External links