Ahmad Kamyabi Mask ( fa, احمد کامیابی مَسْک; born 1944) is a writer, translator, publisher and current Professor Emeritus of Modern Drama and Theater of the Faculty of Fine Arts of the

University of Tehran The University of Tehran (Tehran University or UT, fa, دانشگاه تهران) is the most prominent university located in Tehran, Iran. Based on its historical, socio-cultural, and political pedigree, as well as its research and teaching pro ...

. He is a prominent scholar of French Avant-garde theater and influential in the study of Eugène Ionesco and

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...

Biography

Ahmad Kamyabi Mask was born in

Khusf Khusf ( fa, خوسف, also Romanized as Khūsf and Khoosaf) is a city in and the capital of Khusf County, in South Khorasan Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country locate ...

, a village in the vicinity of Birjand in the east of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, in 1944 during the Anglo-Soviet occupation of Iran. He attended university in

Mashhad Mashhad ( fa, مشهد, Mašhad ), also spelled Mashad, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. It serves as the capital of R ...

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

and

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

and taught as a school teacher. Having earned a doctorat de 3e cycle from

Paul Valéry University, Montpellier III Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

, he started as a university professor in 1978 in Tehran. He earned his doctorat d'État (state doctorate) in

Comparative Literature Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across linguistic, national, geographic, and disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role similar to that of the study ...

and Theatrical Studies in 1999 and is "Professor of Humanities" since then. Kamyabi Mask authored and translated numerous books and essays in French and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and self-published them in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and with other publishing houses and back in Iran with various publishers, notable among them the

University of Tehran Press University of Tehran Press (UTP) (Persian: ) is a publishing house and a department of the University of Tehran in Iran founded in 1957. It is the largest university press in the Middle East. The press has published more than 5,000 titles in Pers ...

. Some of his oeuvre has been translated and published to Anglophone readership; one being his book of interviews with Beckett, ''Last Meeting with Samuel Beckett'' translated by Janet A. Evans. This book has been translated into numerous other languages as well. He is also a prolific translator between French and Persian. He translated into Persian many of Eugène Ionesco's plays, who wrote a preface to Kamyabi Mask's ''Qu'a-t-on fait de Rhinocéros d'Eugène Ionesco à travers le monde?: Allemagne, France, Roumanie, Iran, Japon, U.S.A.'' and ''Ionesco et son théâtre''. He also translated plays by

Jean Genet Jean Genet (; – ) was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works include the novels ''The Thief's ...

and

Fernando Arrabal Fernando Arrabal Terán (born August 11, 1932) is a Spanish playwright, screenwriter, film director, novelist, and poet. He was born in Melilla and settled in France in 1955. Regarding his nationality, Arrabal describes himself as "desterrado" ...

and introduced them to Persian readership. He also translated notable Eastern and Persian works into French: a play by

Bahram Bayzai Bahrām Beyzāêi (also spelt Beizāi, Beyzāêi, fa, بهرام بیضائی; born 26 December 1938) is an Iranian playwright, theatre director, screenwriter, film editor, and '' ostād'' ("master") of Persian letters, arts and Iranian studies ...

, ''Le huitième voyage de Sindbad'' along with works of poetry by

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

Ahmad Shamlou Ahmad Shamlou ( fa, احمد شاملو, ''Ahmad Šāmlū'' , also known under his pen name A. Bamdad ( fa, ا. بامداد)) (December 12, 1925 – July 23, 2000) was an Iranian poet, writer, and journalist. Shamlou was arguably the most infl ...

and Shokouh Mirzadagui. Kamyabi Mask received the 1991 award of the Association of French Language Writers for his book ''Qui sont les rhinocéros de Monsieur Bérenger-Eugène Ionesco?''. In 2011, he was named Chevalier of the Order of Academic Palms for distinguished contribution to French literature and culture. Ahmad Kamyabi Mask is known as an eminent critic of

Martin Esslin , birth_date = , birth_place = Budapest, Austria-Hungary , death_date = , death_place = London, England, UK , education = University of ViennaMax Reinhardt Seminar, ...

for the colonialist quality of the latter's critique on French Avant-garde theater.

Works

Some of Kamyabi Mask's books are: * * * * * * * *

In English Translation

Other Translations

* * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kamyabi Mask, Ahmad 1944 births People from Birjand French literary critics University of Tehran alumni Living people Iranian translators Asian writers in French French male non-fiction writers