Iranian author Simin Daneshvar laid to rest

Eminent Iranian author Simin Daneshvar was laid to rest in the Artists Section of Tehran's Behesht-e Zahra Cemetery on Sunday morning. Literati and cultural figures accompanied Daneshvar to her final resting place during funeral procession that started from the Vahdat Hall.

Daneshvar died of natural causes associated with old age on March 8. She was 90.

Her funeral procession was accompanied by Deputy Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance for Cultural Affairs Bahman Dorri, author Gholamreza Emami and literary critic Ali Dehbashi.

Daneshvar's speech on contemporary art was broadcast at the beginning of the funeral ceremony and afterwards, the condolence message of Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini was read.

At the ceremony, Dorri mentioned that Simin Daneshvar was a prominent novelist and her stories were superior to those by other contemporary authors when he was young.

She was always involved with charitable activities and offered her assistance during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War and Rudbar and Bam earthquakes, he said.

He called "Savushun" the pinnacle of her writing that is a simple and yet deep book.

Daneshvar is mostly known as the author of the social-historical novel "Savushun" (1970) which has been translated into 17 languages around the world.

In "Savushun", she chronicles the life of a Persian family in Shiraz during the Allied occupation of Iran during World War II. The story is narrated through the eyes of Zari, a young wife and mother, who copes with her idealistic and uncompromising husband while struggling with her desire for traditional family life and her need for individual identity.

He said that the culture ministry would release the unpublished book by Daneshvar and reprint her other works.

"We lived with Daneshvar's books for over three decades and here, I want to express thanks for your presence on behalf of the two relatives of Simin, Victoria Daneshvar, Leila Riahi as well as the family of Al-e Ahmad," Ali Dehbashi mentioned during the ceremony.

Simin Daneshvar married a controversial author of the time, Jalal Al-e Ahmad when she was 27. Although she was always known for her independent literary characteristics, her marriage gave her an opportunity to participate in literary coterie of that time visiting Sadeq Hedayat and Nima Yushij.

Al-e Ahmad died suddenly in 1969 at the age of 48. The childless couple discussed problems in their social and family life as a result of infertility problems in two separate books; "A Stone upon a Grave" by Jalal Al-e Ahmad and "Jalal's Sunset" by Simin Daneshvar.

Dehbashi concluded his speech by reading a poem by Fereidun Moshiri.

Javad Mojabi, Manijaeh Mohamedi, Seddiq Tarif, Mostafa Rahmandust, Kambiz Derambakhsh, Bahman Farmanara, Soheil Mahmudi and Lili Golestan were some of cultural figures and artists attended the event.

Source: Mehr News Agency / Payvand Iran News