Jalal Al-e Ahmad was born to a clerical religious family in
Tehran in 1923. A teacher all his life, he joined the Communist
Tudeh Party in 1943 and quickly rose through its ranks, becoming a
member of the party committee for Tehran, before breaking with the
Tudeh in 1947 in protest over Soviet influence. Al-e Ahmad was an
influential and prolific writer and social critic, whose body of
work includes short stories, notably the collection An Exchange of
Visits; novels including By the Pen, The School Principal, and A
Stone on a Grave; travelogues including A Straw in Mecca, A Journey
to Russia, and A Journey to America; anthropological studies;
essays; reviews; and translations. His best known work is
Gharbzadegi (Occidentosis), which has also been translated to
English as “Weststruckness” and “Westoxification,” a cultural
critique of Westernization in Iran. In 2013, Restless Books
published his polemical work based on his journey to Israel as The
Israeli Republic. Al-e Ahmad was married to the novelist and
translator Simin Daneshvar; the couple had no children. He died in
1969.
Simin Daneshvar (born April 28, 1921, Shiraz, Iran—died
March 8, 2012, Tehran, Iran), was an Iranian author who wrote the
enduringly popular Savushun (1969; published in English as
Savushun: A Novel About Modern Iran, 1990, and as A Persian
Requiem, 1991), the first modern Persian-language novel written by
a woman. In 1948, while Daneshvar was studying Persian literature
at the University of Tehran (Ph.D., 1949), she published a
short-story collection, Atesh-e khamush (The Quenched Fire), the
first such book by a woman to come out in Iran. She published a
second collection, Shahri chun behesht (1961; A City as Paradise)
before embarking on Savushun. Later novels include Jazireh-ye
Sargardani (1992; The Island of Perplexity) and Sareban-e sargardan
(2002; Wandering Caravan Master). She was also known for her
translations into Persian of such writers as Anton Chekhov and
Nathaniel Hawthorne. Daneshvar was married (1950–69) to noted
writer and intellectual Jalal Al-e Ahmad and taught art history at
the University of Tehran from the late 1950s until her retirement
in 1979.
Samuel Thrope is a writer and translator based in Jerusalem.
Born and raised in Arlington, Massachusetts, he earned his PhD at
the University of California, Berkeley. He is currently a fellow at
the Martin Buber Society at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Bernard Avishai lives in Jerusalem and New Hampshire. He is
a visiting professor of government at Dartmouth and an adjunct
professor of business at Hebrew University. His most recent book is
Promiscuous: "Portnoy’s Complaint" and Our Doomed Pursuit of
Happiness. He is also the author of The Tragedy of Zionism and The
Hebrew Republic.
"My intellectual hero."
—Reza Aslan, author of Zealot and No god but God
"The travelogue conjures up a long-lost era of calmness and
curiosity between Iranians and Israelis, as well as the naive yet
potent Third World ideology so common in developing countries at
the time. But it is important for what it says, not just for what
it represents. It suggests how the Iranian and Israeli leaders who
feel such intense mutual hostility today actually mirror one
another in certain ways, particularly in their foundational
attitudes toward religious authority, political and economic
populism and the West. That a writer such as Al-e Ahmad, guru to
the ayatollahs, liked Israel now seems touching. What he liked
about Israel seems cautionary."
—Bernard Avishai, Foreign Affairs
“One of Iran’s leading writers and social critics.”
— The New York Times
“Prominent Iranian writer Jalal Al-e Ahmad visited Israel before
his country’s Islamic Revolution, seeing in the State of Israel a
model for Islamic Iran. His words are especially significant today
. . . The Israeli Republic should indeed be on required
reading lists in both Israel and Iran.”
—Ellis Shuman, The Times of Israel
“Remarkable travelogue of an Iranian revolutionary in Israel . .
. The Israeli Republic, based on [Jalal Al-e Ahmad’s]
controversial travelogue, is a record of his idealism, insight, and
ultimate disillusionment towards Israel. Far from a historical
relic, this surprisingly modern book will change the way you think
about current events. The Israeli Republic should be required
reading for Israelis, Iranians, and anyone interested in the
ongoing conflict between them.”
—The Arab Daily News
“A rare and fascinating read."
—The New Inquiry
"Before the Islamic revolution, the two countries traded, quietly
cooperated on defense projects and enjoyed some cultural ties. Few
remember today that a celebrated Iranian author, who some consider
to be Iran’s Ernest Hemingway, traveled to Israel and wrote a book
about his visit."
—PRI's The World
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