The Mourners of Bayal

Gholam-Hossein Saedi (1936-1986) is the most important twentieth century Persian dramatist. He was also a prolific ethnographer, editor, dramatist, and fiction writer. A psychiatrist by training, his psychological insights are evident in his writings. With more than forty works of fiction, non-fiction, and drama to his credit, Saedi was an embodiment of the literary spirit of his generation which had its beginning in the early years after the Second World War, and died with the installation of clerical rule in 1979. Born in 1936 in Tabriz to a middle-class family, he remained in his home town until he completed his medical degree in 1960. However, his interests lay more in writing and exposing the social and political ills of his country. A theme common in his writings is his objection to the eras mindless following of the Western mores. His writings were mainly known in literary circles until 1968 when the director Dariush Mehrjui made a film based on a script by Saedi. The Cow became a critical success both in Iran and abroad and brought Saedi popular recognition. After the Islamic revolution, Saedi fled to exile in France, where he resurrected the literary magazine Alefba. In 1985, Gholam-Hossein Saedi, mainly because of his addiction to alcohol, passed away in a Paris hospital.