Simin Behbahani

Simin Behbahani, her surname also appears as Bihbahani (née Siminbar Khalili; ; 20 July 1927 – 19 August 2014) was a prominent Iranian contemporary poet, lyricist, and activist. Renowned for her mastery of the ghazal, a traditional poetic form, she became an icon of modern Persian poetry. The Iranian intelligentsia and literati affectionately referred to her as the "''Lioness of Iran''."

Throughout her illustrious career, Behbahani was twice nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature and received numerous literary accolades from around the world.Tehran Halts Travel By Poet Called 'Lioness Of Iran'
by Mike Shuster, NPR, 17 March 2010 Her work not only enriched Persian literature but also highlighted her role as a significant cultural and intellectual figure in Iran.

Early life and family

Simin Behbahani, whose name at birth was Siminbar Khalili () (سيمين بر خليلی), was the daughter of Abbas Khalili, a poet, diplomat, newspaper publisher, and editor of the ' (English: action) newspaper, and , a poet and teacher of the French language. Abbās Khalili wrote poetry in both Persian and Arabic and he translated some 1,100 verses of Ferdowsi's ''Shahnameh'' into Arabic. Fakhr-Ozma Arghun was one of the progressive women of her time and a member of ''Kānun-e Nesvān-e Vatan'khāh'' (Association of Patriotic Women) between 1925 and 1929. In addition to her membership of ''Hezb-e Democrāt'' (Democratic Party) and ''Kānun-e Zanān'' (Women's Association), she was for a time (1932) editor of the ''Āyandeh-ye Iran'' (Future of Iran) newspaper. She taught French at the ''Nāmus'', ''Dār ol-Mo'allemāt'' and ''No'bāvegān'' secondary schools in Tehran.

Career

Simin Behbahani started writing poetry at twelve and published her first poem at the age of fourteen. She used the "Char Pareh" style of Nima Yooshij and subsequently turned to ''ghazal''. Behbahani contributed to a historic development by adding theatrical subjects and daily events and conversations to poetry using the ''ghazal'' style of poetry. She has expanded the range of the traditional Persian verse forms and has produced some of the most significant works of the Persian literature in the 20th century.

She was President of the Iranian Writers' Association and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1999 and 2002. In 2013, she was awarded the Janus Pannonius Grand Prize for Poetry.

In early March 2010, she could not leave the country due to official prohibitions. As she was about to board a plane to Paris, police detained her and interrogated her "all night long". She was released but without her passport. Her English translator, Farzaneh Milani, expressed surprise at the arrest as detention as Behbahani was then 82 and nearly blind, "we all thought that she was untouchable."

Personal life

She had two marriages, the first was to Hassan Behbahani and it ended in divorce. She had three children from her first marriage, one daughter and two sons. Her second marriage was to Manuchehr Koushyar and it ended when he died in 1984.

Death

Behbahani was hospitalized on 6 August 2014. She remained in coma from 6 August until her death on 19 August 2014, and died in Tehran's Pars Hospital of pulmonary heart disease at the age of 87. Her funeral, attended by thousands, was held on 22 August in Vahdat Hall, and her body was buried at Behesht-e Zahra.

Works

*The Broken Lute eh-tar-e Shekasteh, 1951*Footprint a-ye Pa, 1954*Chandelier helcheragh, 1955*Marble armar 1961*Resurrection astakhiz, 1971*A Line of Speed and Fire hatti ze Sor'at va Atash, 1980*Arzhan Plain asht-e Arzhan, 1983*Paper Dress aghazin Jameh, 1992*A Window of freedom ek Daricheh Azadi, 1995*Collected Poems ehran 2003*Maybe It's the Messiah hayad ke Masihast, Tehran 2003Selected Poems, translated by Ali Salami
*A Cup of Sin, Selected poems, translated by Farzaneh Milani and Kaveh Safa

Awards and honours

*1998 – Human Rights Watch Hellman-Hammet Grant
*1999 – Carl von Ossietzky Medal
*2006 – Norwegian Authors' Union Freedom of Expression Prize
*2009 – mtvU Poet Laureate
*2013 – Janus Pannonius Poetry Prize, from the Hungarian PEN Club

English translations

* ''A Cup of Sin: Selected Poems'', translated by Farzaneh Milani and Kaveh Safa (Syracuse University Press, 1999)

See also

* Mina Assadi
* Parvin E'tesami
* Forugh Farrokhzad
* Leila Kasra
* Sholeh Wolpé

References

Further reading

* Chopra, R M, " Eminent Poetesses of Persian ", Iran Society, Kolkata, 2010
* Norozi, N. ''“La mia spada è la poesia”. Versi di lotta e d’amore nella poetessa persiana Simin Behbahāni'' (with an extensive anthology of translated and annotated poems, and with the originals in the appendix), WriteUp Books (“Ferdows. Collana di Studi iranici e islamici”), Roma 2023.

External links

Biography of Simin BehbahaniAn International Symposium on The Life and Poetry of Simin BehbahaniSimin Behbahani Lecture & Book Signing – UCLA
*Simin Behbahani reads poetry at SOAS, University of London, 6 February 2005, YouTube
part 1part 2
.
Sārā Ommat-e Ali, ''Simin Behbahani: I am alive''
in Persian, ''Sarmāyeh'' apitalNewspaper (''Ruz'nāmeh-ye Sarmāyeh''). Reprinted in: Association of the Iranian Women (''Kānun-e Zanān-e Irani''), Wednesday 5 December 2007.
Shahāb Mirzāi, ''A Line Made From Swiftness and Fire'' (''Khatti ze Sor'at va Ātash''), in Persian, Jadid Online, 2008
/>''A slide show of photographs with text spoken by Simin Behbahani'', Jadid Online, 2008:
(3 min 56 sec).

{{DEFAULTSORT:Behbahani, Simin
1927 births
2014 deaths
20th-century Iranian poets
Persian-language poets
Writers from Tehran
Iranian lyricists
Iranian women writers
Persian-language women poets
Iranian women's rights activists
Iranian democracy activists
Members of the National Council for Peace
Iranian Writers Association members
Iranian people of Iraqi descent
21st-century Iranian poets
Poets from Tehran