Alireza Afzalipour (26 March 1909 – 7 April 1993) ( fa, علیرضا افضلی‌پور ) was an Iranian engineer, businessman and philanthropist who is known as the founder of

Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman (SBUK) is a research institution and university of engineering and science in Iran, which offers both undergraduate and postgraduate studies. Located in the Kerman province of Iran, the university is among the t ...

because of his financial support and outstanding donation to Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman as well as Kerman Medical University. He died aged 84 in 1993.

Education

He was born in

Tafresh Tafresh ( fa, تفرش, ''Tafreš'') is a city and the capital of Tafresh County, in Markazi Province, Iran. As of the 2011 census, its population was 25,912 (including 12,884 men and 13,028 women). Tafresh is located amidst high mountains so ...

and attended schools in

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 ...

. Having been granted a scholarship by the Iranian government, he then went to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

to study. In 1937, he graduated with a BSc in general chemistry and an MSc in agricultural chemistry. He returned to

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 ...

after finishing his studies in France.

Career

He established his business in electronic products which made him a wealthy man.

University

He planned to build a university and started his research by closely visiting 11 universities in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

and almost all of universities in Iran. He finally chose Kerman for the location of the university he intended to build. After preliminary studies, about 50 hectares was allocated to the construction on 25 December 1974, and the work began with his 600,000,000- rial donation at the time. The university was officially opened on 15 September 1985.

founded by him, is now one of the biggest universities in Iran and the region. The Medical School of the

Kerman University of Medical Sciences 'Kerman University of Medical Sciences'' also called 'KMU (Kerman Medical University)'', is a university located in Kerman, IranKMUis the 8th largest medical university in Iran and the largest university of medical sciences in southeast of the cou ...

and a 350-bed hospital in Kerman now bear his name.

Personal life

His wife was Fakhereh Saba, an opera singer and university lecturer, who died on 14 July 2007 at age 82.

References

University of Kerman, about Afzallipour

External links

Official site of Kerman University of Medical Sciences
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20th-century Iranian engineers Iranian philanthropists 1909 births 1993 deaths People from Tafresh 20th-century philanthropists 20th-century Iranian businesspeople Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman {{Iran-business-bio-stub