Iraj Mirza
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Iraj Mirza (1874 - 1926) (titled Jalaalolmamalek), son of Gholam Hossein Mirza, was a famous Iranian poet.
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[edit] Life
Iraj was born in October 1874 in Tabriz, the capital city of East Azarbaijan, and a northwestern province of present-day Iran. His pedigree chart shows that he was a descendant of Fath Ali Shah Qajar , the second shah of Qajar dynasty (reigned 1797-1834):
Fath Ali Shah Qajar : Malek Iraj Mirza : Gholam Hossein Mirza (GHM): Iraj.
GHM, Iraj's father, was a poet laureate or the official court-poet of Mozzafaral-Din Mirza (MDM). MDM, the son of Nasser-al-Din Shah (the fourth shah of Qajar dynasty reigned 1848-1896), was the Crown Prince (in Persian: Vali-Ahd) of Iran at the time. (As a tradition, all Crown Princes during Qajar era used to reside in Tabriz). Though some literatures indicate that Iraj was schooled privately, there are reliable evidences that he studied at a branch of the House of Sciences and Techniques (in Persian: Darolfonoon) in Tabriz. At 15, he fluently spoke Arabic and Turkish, and he was familiar with the art of calligraphy. His handwriting was very artistic and he was and still is considered as one of the famous calligraphers of Iran. At 16, Iraj got married and at 19 he lost both his father and wife. He then took the position of his late father and became the court-poet of MDM. At 22, when MDM was succeeded to the throne in 1896 and became Mozzafar-al-Din Shah; Iraj was titled as the Head of Poets (in Persian: Sadrol-Shaaeryn or Sadrol-Show-Araa). He was then titled as Jalaalolmamalek.
Few years later, however, he left the royal court and joined the Tabriz office of Ali Khan Amindowleh AKA) who was the governor of East Azarbaijan. At this time Iraj learned French and became very much familiar with Russian too. In 1905, when AKA was relocated and moved to Tehran, Iraj also accompanied him and soon became involved in the Iranian or Persian Constitutional Revolution. In 1907 when Ahmad Ghavam Saltaneh (AGS), a governmental authority, was assigned to go to Europe, Iraj was asked to join AGS. Two years later, Iraj returned to Tehran where he started to work as a staff member of the Office of Official Compositions (in Persian: Daarol-en-Shaa). In 1915, his first son, Ja'afar Gholi Mirza, due to some psychological problems committed suicide.
In 1917, Iraj joined the newly established Ministry of Culture, and three years later he was transferred to the Ministry of Finance and Revenue. From 1920 to 1925 he worked as a Revenue Officer in Mashhad (the capital city of Razavi Khorasan, a province in northeast of Iran). At 52, Iraj moved back to Tehran where he died on March 14, 1926. He was survived by his second son, Khosrow Iraj.
[edit] Poems
Iraj is considered as one of the famous contemporary poets of Iran and also as the first Iranian master of colloquial poetry. In his verses he uses the actual words of everyday speech. The origin of this tendency has come to be identified with his name. (Poet Ferdowsi in his epic book of Shahnameh refers to the name of Iraj as an Iranian who is noble and wise). Through Iraj, poetic language has become rich in many colloquial words and expressions. His simple body language in poetry is also famous for witticism and satire.
During Qajar era, Iraj was influenced by the Iranian or Persian Constitutional Revolution (1906-1911) and changing circumstances in the country. This fact is manifested in the particular style of poetry that he innovated. Modern and imported concepts coped with what were obtained from his own thoughts are the framework of his style. He criticizes the social conditions. The striking originality in his use of metaphor when addressing diverse social problems has been admirable by his critics. His style is rich in the Art of Simile (in Persian: Honar-e-Tashbeeh). His striking sarcasm, pungent and fanged words are pointed at the dishonest clergies, businessmen, merchants (in Persian: Baazari-Haa) and statesmen. In addition to those colloquial poetries, Iraj also composed elegies (in Persian: Soognameh or Marssieh) to praise Mozzafar-al-Din Shah, Hassan Ali Khan Garroosy (also known as Amir Nezam Garroosy, the governor of East Azarbaijan and Kermanshah during Qajar era), and many other Qajar historical personalities. In his elegies, however, the borders of praising did not reach the extreme flattery. Iraj also composed very nice Massnawi and Fragments or Ghata'at (Different Styles of Persian Poetry) on children training and education, mother affection, love and romance. He was an enlightened innovative poet but more tended to the new European thoughts. Despite his famous skills and poetical techniques, he sometimes used similar cases of rhyme, which is considered by some poetry researchers as being intentional and he used it because of an incomplete belief in poetical rules. Although Iraj was one of the pioneers of the innovative movement in the Persian Poetry, he never thought of leaving the rules of the classic poetry. Some scholars believe that because of his specific period and depth of literary knowledge and familiarity with French and other foreign languages, he could be also one of the masters of free verse if he wanted to.
He is particularly famous for his pederastic and satirical poetry. Among many poems that Iraj composed, his well-known poems include Satan (in Persian: Ebleess), Mother (in Persian: Maadar), A Letter to Poet Aref Ghazvini (in Persian: Arefnameh), Woman's Picture (in Persian: Tassvir-e-Zan), Story of Veil or Hijab (in Persian: Daastan-e-Chaador) and the Story of Zohreh and Manouchehr (in Persian: Daastan-e-Zohreh-o-Manouchehr), which is based on William Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis.
In Satan, Iraj explains how a wife maliciously complains against her mother-in-law, and encourages her husband to kill his own Mother and bring the heart for her: A Young Man, ignores the respect of his Mother; pushes her to the ground; cuts her chest and takes her heart out; and goes toward a door. All of a sudden, the man falls as injures. He then clearly hears that his Mother's heart cries as: Oh! My son's hand got cut. Oh! My son's foot was hurt! In this poem Iraj plainly presents the evidence of an Unconditional Love.
The Story of Zohreh and Manouchehr is one of his famous poetic works. Here Iraj tells the story based on the Greek myth of Venus and Adonis. In his poetry, Zohreh rejects the gods and comes to Earth where she overcomes by the pleasing charm of Manouchehr in his armor. He rejects her advances while Zohreh attempts her first seduction. She goes to great pains to explain the beauty of lovemaking and she finally goes her own way as she returns to the gods. (Just for the record: On December 8, 2004 the last Iranian movies launched in France was The Story of Zohreh and Manouchehr directed by Mitra Farahani. The film had already participated in Berlin film festival and several other international events and attracted many viewers). Iraj was known to believe that the status of Iranian women at his time was a devastatingly reminiscent of the Dark Ages. Iraj could not see that the life was so intolerable, unbearable and miserable for the courageous and valorous women of Iran. That was why he composed the very powerful and memorable pieces of Woman's Picture [1] and the Story of Veil [2]
[edit] Tomb
His tomb is in Zahir-Dowleh Cemetery between Darband and Tajrish located in Shemiran, north of Tehran.
[edit] Original Reference
Iraj Mirza Jalaalol-Mamalek: A Reference Article on the First Iranian Master of Colloquial Poetry by Manouchehr Saadat Noury
