Ahmad Kasravi
| Ahmad Kasravi | |
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Ahmad Kasravi (Oil Painting on Canvas by Shapour Suren-Pahlav)
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| Native name | احمد کسروی |
| Born |
Ahmad Kasravī-ye Tabrīzī 29 September 1890 Tabriz, Iran |
| Died | March 11, 1946 (aged 55) Tehran, Iran |
| Nationality | Iranian |
| Known for | Ancient Languages, history, Politics, religion, and Philosophy. |
| Notable work | The Constitutional History of Iran; The 18 Year History of Azarbaijan; The Forgotten Kings (all in Persian) |
Ahmad Kasravi (29 September 1890 – 11 March 1946; Persian: احمد کسروی) was a notable Iranian linguist, historian, and reformer.
Born in Hokmabad (Hohmavar), Tabriz, Iran, Kasravi was an Iranian Azeri. Initially, Kasravi enrolled in a seminary. Later, he joined the Iranian Constitutional Revolution. He experienced a sort of conversion to Western learning when he learned that the comet of 1910 had been identified as a reappearance of Halley's comet. He abandoned his clerical training after this event and enrolled in the American Memorial School of Tabriz. Thenceforward he became, in Roy Mottahedeh's words, "a true anti-cleric."
Kasravi was associated with the Democrat Party in Azerbaijan.
It was in Tbilisi where he first became acquainted with a wide spectrum of political ideas and movements, and he soon was employed by the government of Iran in various cultural posts.
A prolific writer, Kasravi was very critical of both the Shi'a clergy and of the policies of the central government. His outspoken ways would lead him to have many supporters and critics starting from the Reza Shah period. While Abdolhossein Teymourtash was a strong supporter of his works, Mohammad Ali Foroughi is said to have taken strong exception to his literary theories and banned him from contributing to the Farhangestan or to continue publishing. Moreover, he had liberal views on religion, was a strong supporter of democracy, and expressed them in satirical pamphlets like What Is the Religion of the Hajis with Warehouses? that infuriated many readers. His views earned him many powerful enemies such as Ayatollah Khomeini.
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