Writer Simin Daneshvar dies at 90

Simin Daneshvar, eminent translator and writer of 'Savushun' passed away on Thursday evening (March 8) at age 90.

IBNA: Wife of Jalal Ale Ahmad, Simin Daneshvar was born in April 1921 in Shiraz and graduated in Persian Literature from the University of Tehran. She obtained her Ph.D degree in 1949 and taught various courses at that university such as history of arts and archaeology.

Daneshvar had a number of firsts to her credit. In 1948, her collection of Persian short stories was the first by an Iranian woman to be published. The first novel by an Iranian woman was her Savushun ("Mourners of Siyâvash," 1969), which has become Iran's bestselling novel ever and already translated to 17 languages. Daneshvar's Playhouse, a collection of five stories and two autobiographical pieces, is the first volume of translated stories by an Iranian woman author.

Her other works of fiction include: "Wandering Island" (novel, 1992), "Wandering Cameleer" (novel, 2001), "Selection" (novel, 2007), "The Quenched Fire" (short stories, 1948), "A City Like Paradise" (short stories, 1961), and "To Whom Shall I Say Hello?" (1980).

She was also a well-liked translator and most of her translations have been republished for many times. Her best translations include: "Arms and the Man" by George Bernard Shaw (1949), "Enemies" by Anton Chekhov (1949), "Beatrice" by Arthur Schnitzler (1953), "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1954), "The Human Comedy" by William Saroyan (1954), "Cry, the Beloved Country" by Alan Paton (1972), and "The Cherry Orchard" by Anton Chekhov (2003).

She passed away on Thursday (March 8) having suffered from serious health problems.