Simin Daneshvar

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Lore & Background

Simin Daneshvar was born on 28 April 1921 in Shiraz, Qajar Iran. Her father, Mohammad Ali Daneshvar, was a physician; her mother was a painter. She attended the English bilingual school, Mehr Ain, and in eighth grade published her first article, 'Winter Is Not Unlike Our Life,' in a local newspaper. She entered the Persian literature department at the University of Tehran in fall 1938. In 1941, her third year of university, her father died, and to support herself she began writing pieces for Radio Tehran as the 'Nameless Shirazi,' covering cooking and food, and also wrote for the foreign affairs section of a newspaper. In 1948, at age 27, she published Atash-e khamoosh (Quenched Fire), the first collection of short stories published by a woman in Iran. Her Ph.D. dissertation, 'Beauty as Treated in Persian Literature,' was approved in 1949 under Professor Badiozzaman Forouzanfar. In 1950, she married writer Jalal Al-e Ahmad; they married on the ninth day of their visit. In 1952, she traveled to the United States as a Fulbright Fellow working on creative writing at Stanford University with Wallace Stegner. She later joined the faculty at University of Tehran. She translated many books to support her household, often earning more than Jalal. In 1968, she became chairwoman of the Iranian Writers Union. Her novel Suvashun was published in 1969. Her husband died that same year. Daneshvar and Al-e-Ahmad were unable to have children. She continued teaching as an associate professor, later becoming chair of the Department of Art History and Archaeology, from the 1970s until her retirement in 1981. Daneshvar died at her home in Tehran on 8 March 2012 after a bout with influenza. Her body was buried on 11 March at Behesht-e Zahra.

Reader's Guide

Simin Daneshvar's most successful work, Savushun (also known as A Persian Requiem), was published in 1969. It is a novel about settled and tribal life in and around her hometown of Shiraz, and became one of the best-selling Persian novels, undergoing at least sixteen reprints and translated into many languages. Her stories reflect reality rather than fantasy, containing themes such as child theft, adultery, marriage, childbirth, sickness, death, treason, profiteering, illiteracy, ignorance, poverty, and loneliness—social problems of the 1960s and 1970s. She drew inspiration from the people around her, saying: 'Simple people have much to offer. They must be able to give freely and with peace of mind. We, too, in return, must give to them to the best of our abilities.' In 1981, she completed a monograph on Jalal Al-e Ahmad, Ghoroub-e Jalal (The sunset of Jalal's days). Her last book is currently lost and was supposed to be the last book of her trilogy which started with 'the lost island.' Daneshvar also contributed to the periodicals Sokhan and Alefba. In Language of Sleep, a biography play portraying Daneshvar and Herta Muller was written by Mona Ahmadi.

Did You Know?

• In 1948, Daneshvar published the first collection of Persian short stories by an Iranian woman, Atash-e khamoosh (Quenched Fire), but later refused to republish it because she was embarrassed by the juvenile quality of the writing.
• She married Jalal Al-e Ahmad on the ninth day of their visit, and for the wedding they invited writers including Sadegh Hedayat.
• Daneshvar often earned more than her husband Jalal Al-e Ahmad through her translations, which she used to support their household.
• Her novel Savushun (1969) has undergone at least sixteen reprints and has been translated into many languages.
• Daneshvar's last book is currently lost and was supposed to be the final book of her trilogy that started with 'the lost island.'