Seventh Annual Bita Prize for Persian Arts: Iraj Pezeshkzad

Award Recipient: Iraj Pezeshkzad

Iraj Pezeshkzad was born in Tehran in 1928, and educated in Iran and France where he received his degree in Law. He served as a judge in the Iranian Judiciary for five years prior to joining the Iranian Foreign Service. He began writing in the early 1950s by translating the works of Voltaire and Molière into Persian and by writing short stories for magazines. His novels include Haji Mam-ja'far in Paris, and Mashalah Khan in the Court of Haroun al-Rashid.

His most famous work My Uncle Napoleon, was published in 1973 and earned him national acclaim and was accoladed by Iranian and international critics alike as a cultural phenomenon. It is a social satire and a masterpiece of contemporary Persian literature. The story is set in a garden in Tehran in the early 1940s at the onset of the Second World War, where three families live under the tyranny of a paranoid patriarch nicknamed, "Dear Uncle Napoleon".

Special Presentation: Parviz Sayyad

Reception to follow at 8:30pm

Reception Venue: Ford Gardens, Frances C. Arrillaga Alumni Center

Lecture in English Event is free and open to the public