Abolhassan Najafi ( fa, ابوالحسن نجفی, also

Romanized Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...

as "Abolhasan Najafī"; 28 June 1929 – 22 January 2016) was an Iranian writer and translator. Najafi was born in

Najaf Najaf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف) or An-Najaf al-Ashraf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف ٱلْأَشْرَف), also known as Baniqia ( ar, بَانِيقِيَا), is a city in central Iraq about 160 km (100 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated popula ...

, Iraq, into a family from

Isfahan Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...

. He began his literary activities in the 1960s and translated several books from French into Persian. He co-published a successful literary periodical entitled ''Jong-e Isfahan'' ( fa, جُنگ اصفهان, italic=yes). After the Iranian revolution, he published a controversial book on Persian usage entitled ''Let's Avoid Mistakes'' (). Najafi published more than twenty books, among these a dictionary on Persian slang, elements of general linguistics and its application to the Persian language. He translated French novels to Persian, notable works from

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and litera ...

(''Le Diable et le bon Dieu'', ''Les sequestres d'Altona'', ''Qu'est-ce que la litérature''), André Malraux (''Antimémoire''),

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( , ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, and journalist. He was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. His work ...

(''Caligula''), Roger Martin du Gard (''Les Thibault''),

Claude Lévi-Strauss Claude Lévi-Strauss (, ; 28 November 1908 – 30 October 2009) was a French anthropologist and ethnologist whose work was key in the development of the theories of structuralism and structural anthropology. He held the chair of Social Anthro ...

(''La race et l'histoire''), and

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, comte de Saint-Exupéry, simply known as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (, , ; 29 June 1900 – 31 July 1944), was a French writer, poet, aristocrat, journalist and pioneering aviator. He became a laureate of s ...

(''Le Petit Prince''). Najafi was a member of the Academy of Persian Language and Literature (1990–2016).

References

Linguists from Iran Iranian translators Writers from Isfahan 1929 births 2016 deaths Members of the Academy of Persian Language and Literature People from Najaf French–Persian translators Grammarians of Persian Linguists of Persian Grammarians from Iran 20th-century translators Translation scholars {{Asia-translator-stub