Aziz Daneshrad (Persian: عزیز دانشراد; 1920–1991)[1] also known as Gabay (Persian: گبای)[2] and Kiyai (Persian: کیائی)[1] was an Iranian Jewish political activist who represented Jews in the Assembly for the Final Review of the Constitution. His was a proponent of left-wing politics while also advocating ethnoreligious identity.[3]
Aziz Daneshrad | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the Assembly for the Final Review of the Constitution | |
| In office 18 August 1979 – 15 November 1979 | |
| Constituency | Jewish community |
| Majority | 8,927 (99.4%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Aziz Daneshrad-Kiyai 1920 Golpayegan, Iran |
| Died | 1991 (aged 70–71) |
| Political party | Tudeh Party of Iran |
| Alma mater | University of Tehran |
| Occupation | Engineer |
Early life and education
editAziz Daneshrad-Kiyai was born in 1920 in Golpayegan, Isfahan Province.[1] His father was a rabbi and a merchant in bazaar.[1] He obtained a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Tehran and then became a civil servant.[1]
Political career
editDuring the rule of Pahlavi dynasty, Daneshrad was a dissident associated with the Tudeh Party of Iran and he was imprisoned in the 1960s and the 1970s.[3][4]
He co-founded the Association of Jewish Iranian Intellectuals (Jame‘eh-ye rowshanfekran-e kalimi-ye Iran; abbreviated AJII) in 1978, a revolutionary organization that tried to challenge the old guard leadership of the Jewish community which had royalist and Zionist orientations.[3]
After the Iranian Revolution, he took charge as the interim chairman of the Tehran Jewish Association because the previous officeholder Habib Elghanian was executed.[2] Daneshrad was elected to the Assembly for the Final Review of the Constitution shortly after.[1] There he was one of the four members who represented religious minorities[5] and he is likely to have sided with opposition to inclusion of the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists in the constitution.[6]
Personal life
editDaneshrad married Aghdas Kiaee in 1944. The couple had three sons and two daughters.[2]
Accolades
editNational
edit
Prime Medal of His Royal Highness[2]
Order of the Crown (Second Class)[2]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f Boroujerdi, Mehrzad; Rahimkhani, Kourosh (2018). Postrevolutionary Iran: A Political Handbook. Syracuse University Press. p. 433. ISBN 9780815654322.
- ^ a b c d e "Presidents of the Tehran Jewish Association: Aziz Daneshrad "Gabay"", Research Studies Center of Iranian Jews, archived from the original on 2021-09-28, retrieved 2021-09-28
- ^ a b c Sternfeld, Lior (2014), "The Revolution's Forgotten Sons and Daughters: The Jewish Community in Tehran during the 1979 Revolution", Iranian Studies, 47 (6): 857–869, doi:10.1080/00210862.2014.948744, S2CID 143732194
- ^ Yashayaei, Haroun (12 November 2019), "Society of Jewish Intellectuals and Islamic Revolution of Iran: Interview with Haroun Yashayaei, One of the Founders", Iranian Oral History, interviewed by Mohammad Mehdi Moosakhan, translated by Ruhollah Golmoradi, Resistance Literature and Culture Researches and Studies Center
- ^ Sanasarian, Eliz (2000), "Religious Minorities in Iran", British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Cambridge Middle East Studies, 13, Cambridge University Press: 64–82, ISBN 113942985X
- ^ Saffari, Said (1993), "The Legitimation of the Clergy's Right to Rule in the Iranian Constitution of 1979" (PDF), British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 20 (1), Taylor & Francis: 64–82, doi:10.1080/13530199308705571