Muhit Tabataba’i

Muhit Tabataba’i, Muhammad (1902-1992), son of Sayyid Ibrahim. Scholar, writer, historiographer, journalist, and poet bearing the nom de plume Muhit. Born in Zavara, Isfahan, he received his preliminary traditional education in his hometown. He departed for Isfahan in 1921 where he studied French and began his medical studies which he left incomplete and departed for Tehran in 1923 where he studied at the Dar al-Funun and received his diploma in literature. Having studied law at the Faculty of Law, he found employment as a teacher and principal of a high school in Khuzistan. After three years he returned to Tehran where he taught history and geography at the Dar al-Funun and the Military College. He also served as the principal of the Sharaf and the Ma’rifat high schools. He contributed his historical and literary articles to famous periodicals, e.g. the Shafaq-i Surkh and the newspaper Iran from 1927. His series of articles on Muhammad ibn Zakariya Razi and sending students to Europe secured him fame as a profound scholar. He was also known as teacher of history, geography, and French. In a lecture entitled ‘Aqida-yi Dini-yi Firdawsi (Firdawsi’s Religious Beliefs), delivered in 1934 at the Firdawsi Millenary Celebration (Kungirih-yi Hizarih-yi Firdawsi), Tabataba’i displayed his academic scholarship and gained the admiration of Iranian and non-Iranian scholars who attended the lectures. While serving at the Ministry of Education, he continued to contribute his scholarly articles which exceeded 1,500 in number. He was also the director of the Journal Amuzish wa Parwarish (Education), published by the Ministry of Culture. He published the Journal Muhit in 1942 and 1947. He was the cultural attaché of Iran in Delhi (two years), Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon (four years; his office as the Iranian attaché extended fron 1948 to 1955). He presented a paper in Arabic at the first Ibn Sina Conference held in Baghdad in 1950. He retired from his teaching career in 1958 and launched his radio program series, Marz-ha-yi Danish (Frontiers of Knowledge), devoted to culture, belles-lettres, and history. That series was presented by him or the scholars of his choice, reflecting his precise selection of the topics, exceeding 450 in number. He refused the invitation of the University of Tehran in the late 1960s to teach there. He received the first prize of the National Heritage Foundation (Anjuman-i Athar-i Milli) in 1978. He delivered his second lecture at Ibn Sina Conference in 1980 and gave a talk at the Khwarazmi Conference in late 1983. He was elected as a member of the Academy of Persian Language and Literature in 1990. He died in Tehran upon the approach of his ninety year. As mentioned in his will, he was laid to rest beside the Tughril Tower in the vicinity of Ibn Babawayh in Rayy. He wrote more than 2,500 articles and delivered more than 600 lectures. His works include: Tarikh-i I’zam-i Muhassil bih Urupa (History of Sending Students to Europe); Zindigi-yi Muhammad Zakariya-yi Razi (The Life of Muhammad Zakariya-yi Razi); Dawran-i Nadir (The Reign of Nadir); Tarikh-i Tahawwul-i Nathr-i Farsi dar Qarn-i Sizdahum (History of Development of Persian Prose in the Thirteenth Century); Tarikh-i Tahlili-yi Matbu’at-i Iran (Analytical History of the Iranian Press); Naqsh-i Sayyid Jamal al-Din Asadabadi dar Bidari-yi Mashriq Zamin (The Contributions of Sayyid Jamal al-Din Asadabadi to the Awakening of the East); Jughrafiya-yi Naw (Modern Geography); Sharh-i Hal-i Fridawsi (Biography of Fridawsi); Muqaddama-yi Nigaristan-i ‘Aja’ib wa Ghara’ib (Introduction to the Nigaristan-i ‘Aja’ib wa Ghara’ib)

Asar-afarinan (5/ 196-197); Sukhanwaran-i Nami-yi Mu’asir-i Iran (5/ 3198-3202).