TEHRAN –Iranian novelist Mohammad Mohammad-Ali passed away in Canada on Friday. He was 75. 

 Mohammad-Ali was born into a large family in Tehran in 1948. He developed an interest in literature at an early age and started writing while still in school. His first volume of stories, “There are Wolves in Handabad”, was published in 1974, and he went on to publish several acclaimed works during his lifetime.

After four years had passed, the second volume of Mohammad-Ali's work, titled "The Spirits", was released. During his studies in Politics and Sociology, Mohammad-Ali served as a civil servant. Joining the Iranian Writers' Association in 1977, he also contributed to the famous Teheran Goethe Institute lectures that same year. Along with approximately 60 other banned Iranian authors, he read from his work, protesting against the Shah's dictatorship and censorship. 

In 1980, Mohammad-Ali was appointed chief editor of the esteemed literary journal "Bordj" (tower), where he recounted his experiences during his travels to the Soviet Union. Following this, in 1987, the third volume of his short stories, titled "Retirement", and a compilation of essays called "Copper", were both published. In 1991, the novel "Thunder and Lightning Without Rain" and the story "The Hidden Role" were released, with "The Second Eye" following in 1994.

In 1997 his novel “Wet beliefs of a Dead Man” was published, in 1998 the story collection “Regret from the Opposite Side”, and one year later his revised report of his journey through the Soviet Union, “Five Years Before 1985”. One of his latest novels, “Hidden Figure”, was published in 2001. 

Mohammad-Ali was a prominent literary fiction writer, and his books have always been considered important in Persian contemporary literature. He won numerous literary awards, including the Yalda Literary Award in 2003 and The Book of the Year Award in 1998. 

SAB/