Reza Ghotbi
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Reza Ghotbi (; full name Abdorreza Ghotbi Gilani, Iranian; 5 April 1938 – 26 August 2024). He was a mathematician and a telecommunications engineer who headed the
National Iranian Radio and Television National Iranian Radio and Television (NIRT; , ''Râdyo Televizyon-e Melli-ye 'Irân'') was the first Pahlavi Iran, Iranian state broadcaster, which was established on June 19, 1971, following the merger of the country's radio and television serv ...
during the
Pahlavi dynasty The Pahlavi dynasty () is an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian royal dynasty that was the Pahlavi Iran, last to rule Iran before the country's monarchy was abolished by the Iranian Revolution in 1979. It was founded in 1925 by Reza Shah, Reza S ...
.


Early life and education

A fervent nationalist from early childhood, while attending Firouz Kouhi primary school, Ghotbi joined the Pan-Iranist Foundation (not the Party) at the age 11, a year prior to what the regulations allowed. A fervent admirer of Mosaddegh and wholly devoted to the King, the feud between the two turned him off politics altogether. By age 15, at
Alborz High School Alborz High School () is a college-preparatory gifted high school located in the heart of Tehran, Iran. It is one of the first modern high schools in Asia and the Middle East, named after the Alborz mountain range, north of Tehran. Its place in th ...
he instead focused on his classes, sports and scouting. He later studied telecommunications and mathematics in France at the Ecole Centrale and the
Telecom Paris Telecom may refer to: * Telecommunications ** A telecommunications company ** The telecommunications industry * Telecom Animation Film, a Japanese studio See also * Telcom (disambiguation) * Telekom (disambiguation) * List of telecommunication ...
. Years later, he married Shahrzad Afshar in Tehran, in 1968, and had two children.


Career

Upon return to his country, Ghotbi taught mathematics at the Aryamehr University of Technology (later named
Sharif University Sharif University of Technology (SUT); (, romanized : Dāneshgāh-e sana'ti-e sharif) is a public research university in Tehran, Iran. It is widely considered to be the nation's most prestigious and leading institution for science, technology ...
after the Revolution). He was then retained by the Plan Organization (''Sazman-e Barnam-e'') and asked to prepare a project for the establishment of a national Iranian television. Having finished the job, his intention was to pursue his passion and attend
MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...
in United States. However, he was asked to stay on and head the newly established National Iranian Television (NITV) which later, in 1971, merged with Radio Iran to become the National Iranian Radio and Television (NIRT). He trained young professionals in various required fields and rapidly created a network of television centers covering most provinces throughout Iran. He gathered a team of highly qualified professionals thanks to which NIRT eventually became the most important broadcasting network in the region. Within a year of running NITV he headed the annual
Shiraz Arts Festival The Shiraz Festival of Arts (Persian language, Persian: جشنواره هنر شیراز) was an annual international summer arts festival, held in Iran bringing about the encounter between the East and the West. It was held from 1967 to 1977 in ...
under the patronage of HIM the Shahbanou
Farah Pahlavi Farah Pahlavi (; []; born 14 October 1938) is the former Queen and last Empress () of Pahlavi Iran and is the third wife and widow of the last List of monarchs of Iran, Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. She was born into a prosperous Ira ...
and in later years, the Tous Festival in Mashhad and ''Festival-e Farhang-e Mardom'' (Festival of popular culture) in Isfahan. At the NITV, Reza Ghotbi established ''Gorouh-e pazhouhesh-e Iran Zamin'' (Department for Research on Iran), ''Markaz-e hefz va eshaye-e musiqi-e Iran'' (Center for the Preservation and Propagation of Iranian Music), ''Madressey-e āli-e cinema va television'' (School of Cinema and Television), ''Kargah-e musiqi-e koodakan va nojavanan'' (Music Workshop for Children and Young Adults), ''Kargah-e nemayesh'' (Theater Workshop), ''Majalley-e Tamasha'' (Tamasha magazine) and ''Entesharat-e Soroush'' (Soroush Publishing House), amongst others. Twice during his career, he offered his resignation, butting heads with the intelligence services as he wouldn’t accept censorship in any programming. His final resignation was accepted by Prime Minister Amouzegar in 1978, shortly before he was replaced by Sharif-Emami.


Later years

Ghotbi left Iran several months after the onset of the Revolution. He resided in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
for some years before settling in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
but eventually moved back to Paris to be close to his children and grandchildren. Ghotbi died of cancer in Paris, on 26 August 2024, at the age of 86.رضا قطبی درگذشت


References


External links

* Foundation for Iranian studies, Reza Ghotbi interview (oral history) https://fis-iran.org/fa/oral-history/qotbi-reza/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Ghotbi, Reza 1938 births 2024 deaths Pan-Iranist Party politicians Rastakhiz Party politicians Iranian nationalists Exiles of the Iranian Revolution in the United States Alborz High School alumni 20th-century Iranian engineers