Kamran Fani, a Distinguished Figure of Iran’s Literary and Cultural Life, Passes Away at 81
Kamran Fani, a prominent writer, translator, manuscript scholar, and permanent member of the Academy of Persian Language and Literature, passed away last week in Tehran.
Kamran Fani, a prominent writer, translator, manuscript scholar, and permanent member of the Academy of Persian Language and Literature, passed away last week in Tehran at the age of 81. His death marks the loss of one of Iran’s most influential yet quietly enduring cultural figures—an intellectual whose life was devoted to books, scholarship, and the preservation and transmission of knowledge.
Fani was a graduate of Persian Language and Literature from the University of Tehran, where he studied under some of the most distinguished figures of Iran’s modern humanities, including Abdolhossein Zarrinkoub, Zabihollah Safa, Parviz Natel Khanlari, Badi‘ al-Zaman Forouzanfar, and Jalal al-Din Homayi. He later earned a master’s degree in Library and Information Science from the same university, skillfully combining classical literary training with modern scholarly and bibliographic methods.
Throughout his career, Fani played a central role in Iran’s leading cultural and scholarly institutions. He served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Iranian Parliament Library, which houses one of the country’s richest collections of historical and manuscript sources, and as a member of the Supreme Council of the Great Islamic Encyclopedia Center, contributing to the preservation and organization of Iran’s intellectual heritage.
One of the most significant dimensions of Fani’s professional life was his editorial leadership in major encyclopedic and reference works over several decades. He played a key role in the organization, editing, and authorship of landmark projects including the Encyclopedia of Democracy, the Encyclopedia for Children and Adolescents, the Encyclopedia of Shi‘ism, the Encyclopedia of the Islamic World, and the Daneshnameh-ye Daneshgostar, 18 volumes of which have been published to date. These works remain essential references for scholars and the broader public alike.
Fani was also a highly respected translator, introducing major works of world literature and thought to Persian readers. Among his translations are Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters and The Seagull, as well as Zarathustra: Statesman or Magician. His translations were widely praised for their clarity, precision, and cultural sensitivity, reflecting his deep respect for both source texts and Persian literary tradition.
Widely regarded as a quiet but foundational force in Iran’s modern literary and scholarly life, Fani made enduring contributions to Persian literature, translation, bibliography, and intellectual discourse. His work helped expand access to world literature while fostering critical engagement with Iran’s own cultural heritage. Colleagues often noted his rare combination of rigor, integrity, humility, and intellectual independence.
Beyond his published work, Fani’s influence extended through mentorship, editorial guidance, and institutional leadership, shaping Iran’s literary ecosystem across generations. His reflections on education, libraries, and intellectual life were captured in “Mr. Librarian,” a book-length interview published eight years ago, in which he examined the evolution of knowledge production and cultural institutions in Iran.
Colleagues and students consistently described Kamran Fani as a principled intellectual, deeply committed to the autonomy of culture and the dignity of scholarship. At a time when Iran’s cultural and academic spaces have faced persistent pressure, his life stood as a testament to the enduring power of ideas, books, and ethical intellectual labor. In recognition of his lasting contributions to Iran’s literary heritage, scholarly standards, and culture of learning, the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) extends its deepest condolences to Kamran Fani’s family, colleagues, students, and the broader Iranian cultural community. His legacy endures in the books he shaped, the knowledge he preserved, and the generations he inspired through a lifetime of principled intellectual work.