Samad Behrangi (; 24 June 1939 – 31 August 1968) was a Marxist-Leninist Iranian teacher, social activist and critic, folklorist, translator, and short story writer of Iranian Azerbaijani descent. He is famous for his children's books, particularly The Little Black Fish. Influenced by predominantly leftist and communist ideologies that were common among the intelligentsia of his era‌, which made him popular among the Organization of Iranian People's Fedai Guerrillas (an Iranian communist organization), his books typically portrayed the lives of the children of the urban poor and encouraged the individual to change their circumstances by their own initiatives.

Early life

He was born on 24 June 1939, in the neighborhood of Charandab in Tabriz, Imperial State of Iran. He was from a working-class family, his parents were Sara and Ezzat, and he had two brothers and three sisters. His father was a seasonal worker and his income was never sufficient. His father, like millions of other workers on the move for better life conditions, eventually left Iran for the Caucasus and never returned.

He finished elementary school and three years of secondary school in Tabriz, before enrolling in a rural teacher training school.

Publications

Apart from children's stories, he wrote many pedagogical essays and collected and published several samples of oral Azerbaijani literature. and in an interview with VOA has unequivocally denied the claims he and SAVAK murdered him.

He is buried in the Imamieh cemetery in the Imamieh neighborhood of Tabriz.

See also

  • Imamieh
  • Tabriz

References

Further reading

  • Milani, Abbas. "Samad Behrangi," in Eminent Persians, Vol. 2. Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press, 2008, pp. 838–842
  • Preface and backcover text from Samad Behrangi, Talkhoon va Chand Ghesse-ye Digar (Talkhoon and other stories), Behrangi Publishings, Tabriz, 1998, .
  • Tahbaz, Sirous, Samad Behrangi va Mahi-e Koochooloo-ye Daanaa (Samad Behrangi and the Wise Little Fish).
  • Samad's Stories in English
  • Samad Stories: The Little Black Fish
  • Samad Stories: 24 Restless Hours
  • Samad Stories: The Little Sugar Beet Vendor
  • Samad Stories: The Tale of Love
  • Samad Stories: Talkhun
  • Samad Stories: In Search of Faith
  • Samad's life and the stories