Talat Basari

Tal'at Bassari (Persian: طلعت بصاري, 1923 – 18 September 2020), was an Iranian Bahai poet, feminist, academic, and writer.

Talat Bassari
طلعت بصاري
Talat Bassari in 1960s
Born1923
Babol, Mazandaran, Iran
Died18 September 2020(2020-09-18) (aged 97)[1]
Los Angeles, California, United States
NationalityIranian
Occupation(s)Poet, writer
Known forVice President of Jundishapour University (1956–1979)
Spouse
Abolghasem Gheble
​
(m. 1941)​
[1]
Children4[1]
Parent(s)Ataollah Bassari (father)[1]
Belgheys Azizi (mother)[1]

Biography

Born in the city of Babol along the Caspian Sea, Bassari received a PhD in Persian language and literature and lectured at secondary schools in the Iranian capital Tehran.[2] She was the first woman to be appointed as vice-chancellor of a university in Iran when she worked at the Jondishapur University in Ahvaz, during the 1960s.[3] The university was instated in the 20th century by the Pahlavi dynasty to commemorate the ancient Sassanian academy of Gundeshapur. In the aftermath of the Islamic revolution in Iran and because of her Bahai faith, she was dismissed from her university position and eventually migrated to the United States.[4]

Bassari published extensive critiques on Persian literature including the national epic Shahnameh written by the celebrated Persian poet Ferdowsi.[5] Her critiques have been listed by prominent Iranian historian Iraj Afshar as recommended descriptive reading surrounding the literature of Shahnameh.[6] In 2018, she published a 347-page book titled Women of Shahnameh (Ketabsara; 2018) that studied the female characters in the epic. Each character is individually analysed and include Soudabeh the wife of the Shah Kay Kāvus, Tahmineh the wife of the protagonist Rostam, Gordafarid a champion who symbolised courage and hope to women, and Faranak, mother to Fereydoun who is a hero from the Kingdom of Varna.[7] In 1967, she had also published a biography on Zandokht Shirazi, a pioneer in the feminist movement in Iran.[8]

She resided in New Jersey.[9] She also worked on the editorial board of the New Jersey-based magazine, Persian Heritage.[10] She identified as Bahai.[11] Bassari also assisted in books on the life of the influential Persian Bahai poet Táhirih, and contributed with Persian to English translations in academia.[12][13]

Recognition

A portrait of her was amongst those exhibited at the Women of Persia art exhibit in Issaquah Highlands, Seattle, United States of America.[14]

See also

References
  1. به یاد طلعت بصاری، استاد دانشگاه و پژوهشگر بهایی
  2. "Iranian Women's Equality Calendar" (PDF). Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  3. "Academy of Gundishapur". iranreview.org. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  4. "History of the Exclusion of Iranian Baha'is from Higher Education after the Islamic Revolution". Iran Press Watch. 30 May 2011. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  5. "WorldCat Profile Page". WorldCat. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  6. Omidsalar, Mahmoud. "Notes on Some Women of Shahnameh" (PDF). Name-ye Lran-e Bastan. Los Angeles: California State University. 1 (1): 23–48. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  7. "Ketabsara Publishes Talat Bassari's 'Women in Shahnameh'". Financial Tribune. 10 June 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  8. Paidar, Parvin (1997). Women and the Political Process in Twentieth-Century Iran. Cambridge University Press. p. 371. ISBN 9780521595728. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  9. Pirnia, Mansoureh (1995). سالار زنان ايران: Pioneer Women of Iran – Salar Zanan e Iran – Pirnia (in Arabic). Mehriran Publishing Co. Ltd. pp. 94–5. ISBN 9780963312938. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  10. "Persian Heritage Magazine" (PDF). Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  11. "Eshraghieh and Mahmoud Rabbani Collection". bahai-library.com. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  12. Ahdieh, Hussein; Chapman, Hillary (2017). The Calling: Tahirih of Persia and Her American Contemporaries. Ibex Publishers. ISBN 9781588141453. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  13. Pickover, Clifford A. (2009). The Loom of God: Tapestries of Mathematics and Mysticism. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. p. 10. ISBN 9781402764004. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  14. Ball, Linda (17 April 2014). "'Women of Persia' exhibit honors strong, powerful women". Issaquah Reporter. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
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