Parviz Natil Khanlari

Natil Khanlari, Parwiz (1913-1990), son of Mirza Abu al-Hasan Khan. Iranian litterateur, researcher, journalist, writer, linguist, and poet born in Terhan. He received his secondary education at Dar al-Funun and his higher education at the Faculty of Letters, University of Tehran, where he obtained his PhD. Having completed his military service, he taught at the University of Tehran. He embarked upon his journalistic career in his high school years when he contributed his poetry and articles to the Mihr journal. He was introduced to the ‘Foursome Group’, i.e. Sadiq Hidayat, Mujtaba Minuvi, Buzurg ‘Alawi, and Mas’ud Farzad, as a sophomore. He held offices at the Education Department of the Education Ministry and served for a while as the director of Publications and Public Relations of the University of Tehran, undersecretary of the Interior Ministry, and Minister of Education and was elected twice as a senator. In his youth he had developed an interest in writing articles and composing poetry and a relative of Nima Yushij, he associated with that poet. He contributed his first article in 1930 to the Iqdam newspaper. He married Zahra Kiya who in  next years who bore him a daughter and a son, though his son, Arman, died in childhood. While teaching he studied Persian Language and Literature at the University of Tehran, wrote his thesis under the title of ‘Study of Persian Prosody’ and obtained his PhD in 1933. He departed for Paris in 1938 where he conducted studies at L'Institut de Linguistique et Phonétique Générales et Appliquées (ILPGA). His lecture delivered at l'École des langues orientales was discussed in literary newspapers and periodicals for some time. He always held his chair of History of Persian Language at the University. Having taught as an associate professor at the university, he assumed the chair of History of Persian Language following his return from Paris in 1950. He also wrote and translated numerous works. His fruitful enterprises include the publication of 27 volumes of Sukhan, a literary journal, from 1943 to 1979 in which numerous articles and translations of Iranian and Western literary texts and thought appeared which contributed to the orientation of contemporary Persian literature. A follower of Nima Yushij in his youth, following his profound literary studies came to the conclusion that Persian prosody still possessed capacity in Persian poetry and what required changes and development was the poetic idiom which had to be modernized. His collection of poetry, Mah dar Murdab (1964) was repeatedly published. His poem, ‘Uqab, dedicated to Sadiq Hidayat, is one of the most elegant and meaningful pieces of modern Persian poetry. His innovative and recognized enterprises when he served as the Minister of Education in 1962 was the Sipah-i Danish plan which was unprecedentedly welcomed in Iran and abroad. His further enterprises include the establishment of The Iranian Cultural Foundation (Bunyad-i Farhang-i Iran) in 1965 he collaborated with some research scholars as a director of which more than 300 books were published and 40 books were in print. He had a particular style of poetry to which is accorded particular significance and it may be termed as ‘Modern Classic’. His works include: Rawanshinasi (1937); Tahqiq-i Intiqadi dar ‘Aruz wa Qafiya-yi Farsi (1958); Vazn-i Shi’r-i Farsi (1958); Dar Bara-yi Zaban-i Farsi (1961); Zabanshinasi wa Zaban-i Farsi (1964); Mah dar Murdab (1964); Farhang wa Ijtima’ (1966); Tarikh-i Hunar; Akharin Didar; Rawanshinasi wa Tatbiq-i An ba Usul-i Parwarish; Rawish-i Taza-yi Tadris-i Qawa’id-i Zaban-i Farsi.

Asar-afarinan (2/ 315); Sukhanvaran-i Nami-yi Mu’asir-i Iran (2/ 1254-1262); Farhang-i Sha’iran-i Zaban-i Parsi az Aghaz ta Imruz (1/ 184).