Ali Akbar Dehkhoda

TEHRAN, Feb. 28--Great Iranian poet, novelist and journalist Ali Akbar Dehkhoda is well known for his pioneering dictionary who, in his will, bequeathed the publication rights of his masterpiece to the Iranian nation.
February 26 marked the 50th anniversary of his death in 1956.
Dehkhoda, who served as a lecturer at the Faculty of Political Science, was born in 1879. He took up courses in Principles of Islamic Studies and Arabic in 1892.
He was assigned to a mission in Vienna, Rome and Bucharest in 1903 and returned home after two years.
In 1906, he was employed by the Roads and Transport Department of Khorasan province and at the same time, he was a political activist.
In 1906, he obtained the license for publishing the magazine ’Sour-e Israfil’ which was shut down by the then authorities for publishing political items. He could release only 32 issues of the magazine.
During the Constitutional Movement in 1906, a number of revolutionaries and constitutionalists were killed at Bagh-e Shah in Tehran and Dehkhoda fled to Switzerland to continue printing several issues of his magazines.
Frustrated by the political situation in Iran, he remained in the basement of his house to write a comprehensive Persian-to-Persian dictionary.

While the name ’Persia’ (Western historical name of Iran) has attracted tens of thousands of people from around the world to London’s British Museum to visit ancient Persian artifacts, the Nuremberg-based music company, Colosseum, invites Europeans to listen to eight masterpieces of Persian symphonic music.
Ali Rahbari, who recently resigned as the principal conductor of the Tehran Symphony Orchestra, with financial support from the then Ministry of Culture and Art, in the late 1970s recorded works by Persian contemporary composers Hossein Dehlavi, Houshang Ostovar, Aminollah Hossein, Mohammad-Taghi Massoudieh, Ahmad Pejman, and one of his own compositions. These pieces were released as three LPs in Germany in 1980, entitled, ’Symphonische Dichtungen aus Persien’ (or Symphonic Poems from Persia) which, for some reason, were not brought to Tehran. Fortunately, after a quarter of a century, Colosseum decided to release those LPs as a double CD album.
’Symphonic Poems from Persia’ is the first collection of Persian symphonic music masterpieces available worldwide. Such pieces such as the valuable collections recorded by Manouchehr Sahbai in Austria and Bulgaria in the 1990s were distributed locally.
Following are the works recorded in ’Symphonic Poems from Persia’: ’Persian Mysticism around G’ by Ali (Alexander) Rahbari; ’Dance’, ’Ballet-Impressions’, and ’Rhapsody’ by Ahmad Pejman; ’Sheherazade’ (Shahrzad), in seven movements, by Aminollah (AndrŽ) Hossein; ’Bijan & Manijeh’ (in six movements) by Hossein Dehlavi; ’Suite Iranienne’ (Iranian Suite) by Houshang Ostovar and ’Mouvement Symphonique’ (Symphonic Movement) by the ’Father of Ethnomusicology in Persia’, Mohammad Taghi Massoudieh.
The latest release of ’Symphonic Poems from Persia’ and its global distribution is an effective step for introducing Persian symphonic music.

TEHRAN, Feb. 28--Experts from Malek Ashtar Navy Academy in Bushehr have come across the remains of the first Iranian warship, which operated in the Persian Gulf during the Qajar reign (1796-1925), near one of Bushehr harbors.
According to CHN, the Germans presented the 110-year-old ship called Persepolis to the Qajar king Nassereddin Shah to ensure the security of the Persian Gulf during the early years of the alien forces’ presence in the region.
With the establishment of commercial companies, it was transferred to the small island Abbasak and then to an unknown destination.
Executor of the project ’Museum of Sea and Persian Gulf Navigation’ Kambiz Alampour said, “While conducting studies, we came across a ship in Bushehr province and managed to create a replica of it.
“After surveying different sections of the harbors, we found the remnants of the ship, which will eventually be placed in a museum.“
He added that the warship, which was heavily damaged, was used for special purposes including quelling riots. It was phased out during the Pahlavi reign.

A sample caricature from the book by Masoud Ziaei Zaedkhashoei

TEHRAN, Feb. 28--The Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) has published a collection of selected caricatures from its annual contest as a book in 2,000 copies.
According to IRISL’s Public Relations Department, the contest was held to mark the 27th anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution.
The press release said that some 1,112 Iranian caricaturists forwarded 2,341 works to the secretariat of the event of which over 100 top caricatures were selected and printed in the book with credit to the artists. Secretary of the festival Mohammad Rafie Ziaei said that the panel of jury was made up of prominent caricaturists Nasser Pakshir, Mohammad Ali Bani-Asadi, Javad Alizadeh, Toka Neiestani, Bozorgmehr Hosseinpour and Amir Hossein Davoodi.
The winners, in order of their rankings, were Masoud Ziaei, Mana Neiestani, Hassan Karimzadeh, Mohsen Jaafari and Norouz Abbasi respectively.
The satirical publication ’Gol Agha’ founded by the late well-known journalist Kiumars Saberi Foumani 15 years ago also cooperated in the publication of the book.

A girl and her mother choosing items for ÔHaft SeenÕ (seven Ss) in Tehran.

TEHRAN, Feb. 28--Cultural Artistic Organization of Tehran Municipality plans to organize a program titled ’Iranian Norouz’ here in cultural houses from March 11-17.
Announcing this, Javad Heidaripour told Iran Daily’s Sadeq Dehqan that the event, which will be held on the threshold of the Iranian new year, seeks to promote traditions and ethical values pertaining to Norouz celebrations and help establish the special symbols of the festivity among Iranian families.
“Since the motto of the organization is ’Tehran--City of Ethics’, we are trying to propagate the customs and traditions on different occasions,“ he noted.
Some 20,000-30,000 toys featuring ’Baba Norouz’ and ’Naneh Sarma’ will be displayed at the exhibits in cultural houses, he said, adding that some 50 people wearing ’Baba Norouz’ robes will communicate with children and read poetry and stories for them.
Referring to the sales of a large number of Santa Claus toys on the threshold of Christmas, he said, “We want to promote national and traditional symbols among the children by making ’Baba Norouz’ dolls available.“
Heidaripour further stated that some ten expositions will be held in ten cultural houses. Each of the events will contain pavilions featuring ’Haft Seen’ (Seven Ss) Tablecloth (spread on Norouz Day and contains seven items starting with the letter ’S’ in the Persian language), goldfish, handicrafts of Norouz traditions as well as special pavilions for children and young adults.
Different products including flower and plants will be offered at discounts, given the fact that spring is ahead, he said, noting that health experts will also make the visitors acquainted with the hygiene at the events.
As per the coordination made with the Headquarters for Reconstructing the Holy Shrines in Iraq, those who want to take part in the drive can make their donations in a special pavilion, he concluded.

TEHRAN, Feb. 28--Noted Iranian theater director and writer, Mohammad Rahmanian has said that he is currently writing the film script of a novel titled Pig’s Bone and Leper’s Hands by Mostafa Mastour.
He noted that he will direct the film which will be his first experience as movie director. Rahmanian told ISNA that he brought to stage a play titled ’Fans’ in Tehran’s City Theater last year.
He said that he also intends to direct a movie version of ’Fans’ in May which will be produced by Manouchehr Mohammadi and sponsored by Faradis Cultural Institute.
Rahmanian has a bachelor’s degree in directing drama from Tehran University’s Faculty of Fine Arts and a master’s degree in drama literature from Theater and Cinema University.
He began writing plays in 1981 and concurrently teaches theater and directs plays. Plays by Rahmanian include ’Interview’, ’Majlis’, ’Letter’, ’Bridge’, ’Horses’ and ’Fans’. His most popular work was ’Fans’ which has also been staged in abroad.
The novel Pig’s Bone and Leper’s Hands has been republished several times.
Rahmanian also has a number of novels to his credit.