Mohammad Reza Ale Ebrahim was born on 24 October 1951 in one of the poor districts of Estahban, Fars province. His passion for teaching made him a dedicated teacher who served not only in the villages but also among the nomads for 20 years; “20 years of teaching and learning” as he describes them himself. He holds a double B.A. in Training Sciences (management and planning) and the Persian literature.
His love for oral lore and culture not only made him a wholehearted researcher and anthropologist but also provoked his encouragement for his students to follow suit. The result of their effort was contribution of more than 60 stories to the 20-volume Iranian Legends and Fairy Tales Encyclopedia (Farhang-e-Afsanehay-e Irani ) which is collected by Ali Ashraf Darvishian and Reza Khandan (Mahabadi).
Ale Ebrahim’s first work was published in Ferdowsi Magazine back in 1979; ever since, he has written more than 450 short stories, research articles, books, essays and reviews.
Moreover, he has been responsible for the story-writing association at the Culture and Islamic Guidance Office in Estahban. He has also organized story-writing festivals in the same city.
Ale Ebrahim has so far published more than twenty books on fiction, folklore culture, introducing prominent people from his hometown Estahban, characters such as Ardeshir I, the founder of Sasanian Empire (180–242 AD), Ghazi Azododdin Iji (the Master of Hafez), Martyr Rabe (Ayatollah Sheikh Mohammad Bagher Mojtahed Estahbanati), the martyr of the Constitutional Revolution, Amir Mokhtar Karimpour Shirazi (who was set afire by Ashraf Pahlavi after the 1332/1953 Coup d’etat). He has also edited many poem divans by Estahbani poets such as Shams Estahbanati, Aaref Estahbanati, Sheikh Maghrebi, Asghar Vafadar and Ghasem Kahkeshani.
BIBLIO BRIEF
- The Revolt, Life and Struggles of Karimpour Shirazi (2004)
- Ghazi Azododdin Iji (2005)
- Martyr Rabe (the martyr of the Freedom Path) (2005)
- Wedding Ceremony and its Popular Songs in Estahban (2007)
- Estahban Folk Games (2007)
- Ardeshir Babakan, the Son of Bakhtehgan (2008)
- Estahban People’s Culture in Moharram, Ramezan and Prayers for Rain (2008)
- Ancient and Religious Monuments and Tourist Attractions in Estahban (2008)
- The Sable’s Night (Shabe Samour) (2010)
- The Edge of the Furnace (Lab-e Tanour) (2010)
- Baharestan (the Spring of Estahban) (2012)
BOOK BROWSE
Ancient and Religious Monuments and Tourist Attractions in Estahban (2008)
Fars Province, as the home of the ancient civilization of Iran, has the merit of having so many ancient monuments. Almost all of the cities in this province are enriched with these monuments; cities such as Shiraz, Firouz Abad, Darab, Lar, Estahban, Neyriz, Ij and Sarvestan. Being born and bred in Estahban, Ale Ebrahim has put much effort and passion in conducting research and collecting data on the monuments of his hometown. This book serves as a comprehensive guide to the Iranian tourists who visit this beautiful and historically and culturally rich part of the country.
Ardeshir Babakan, the Son of Bakhtehgan (2008)
Few researchers, ordinary people and even the residents of Estahban and Fars province are aware of the fact that Ardeshir I, the founder of the Sasanian Empire (224-651) was born in Tiroudeh, Kheer Village, Estahban County. This book discusses Ardeshir’s hometown, his reign, his time and his appearance in other historical books and documents.
The Sable’s Night (Shabe Samour) (2010)
One of the many aspects of Ale Ebraim’s profession includes writing short stories and sketches. As mentioned earlier, he has been a teacher in villages and among nomads for more than 20 years. This “learning and teaching” experiences are all collected in his story collections one of which is The Sable’s Night. The book is a collection of nineteen stories and sketches. In the introduction of the book, Ale Ebrahim explains that his first serious engagement with anthropology and the culture of ethnic groups roots back to late 1976 when he was a teacher in a small village. Being unaware of the people’s dialect in that small village, he fails to immediately understand a student’s problem who is scared to death as a “mouse” had been trying to bite his foot as the word they used for the small animal was unfamiliar for him.
“After this, I have always asked for my students’ help in collecting [documents and notes] on people’s culture. The result of which has been more than 20,000 notes every single one of which I cherish as a very important document… I have published twelve books on the same field and have ten more ones ready for publication.”
A prolific researcher as he is, Ale Ebrahim has very recently published two books on Estahban’s traditional handicrafts.
PRESS KIT
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