Seventy years of living with books
Faezeh Sassanikhah
Translated by M. B. Khoshnevisan
2017-05-28
The fourth meeting of the new round of the meetings of “Oral History of Book” was held with the attempt of Nasrollah Haddadi, author and researcher in the Institute of House of Book, according to the website of Iranian Oral History. The meeting hosted Hojjat-al Eslam Biok Chitchian, the Manager of Mortezavi Publications and a veteran in the area of publication on Wednesday 4th of May 2017, the website added.
Born in Tabriz, education and bookselling in Najaf
In the beginning of the meeting, Hojjat-al Eslam Chitchian introduced himself by saying, “I was born in 1923 in Amirkhiz neighborhood of the city of Tabriz, and have four sisters. My father was a draper and because of this, we were famed as Chitchian.
I was studying in Hekmat School and just like all of boys I had to go to military service. In order not to go to the conscription of the Pahlavi regime, I went to the holy city of Najaf to continue my education. In Najaf, I studied under scholars such as Ayatollah Seyed Abolqassem Khoei and martyr Asadollah Madani, the second martyr of Mehrab (altar). During my education in Najaf, I went to Hamedan and Azarbaijan to deliver speeches and to proselyte.”
The Manager of Mortezavi Publications went on to say, “For earning my living and education, I was involved in bookselling. At first, I worked in the auction market of Najaf on Thursdays and Fridays, but later I could rent a shop in this market. My shop was exactly the opposite of that of Ashiekh Ali Akhundi. There were always scientific debates in his shop on Thursday afternoons.
I sold Islamic books in my shop. In addition to the books available in Najaf, I ordered some of the books including the works of Islamiyeh Publications to Mr. Ketabchi to send them to me from Iran. Mr. Kazemaini was our go-between in those years and reached me the books through the Iraqi custom.”
The books I love too much
The veteran published added, “The work of publication was very cheap in Iran. I shut down the book selling in Najaf in 1947 and immigrated to Iran. I resided and married in Tehran. I bought a shop in Mahtash Mall in Tehran’s bazar and started working with the same previous name. I was there for some five years, but upon the recommendation of Haj Aqa Mashmachi, I moved to Nasser Khosro Street and Haj Nayeb Alley and bought a shop in Majidi Mall.”
Hojjat-al Eslam Chitchian continued by saying, “I had a very close relation with Sadr-al Sadat Dezfuli, a clergy and manager of Sadr Bookselling, and went to his house. I had relations with many cities and towns such as Tabriz, and Mashhad and sent books to them.”
He said, “I love the last wills and testaments of Seyed-Ibn Tavooss in his book “Kashf-al Mahjeh” and the book “Barnameh Sa’adat” or a plan for prosperity by Asheikh Mohammad Taqi Amoli and recommend all to read these books. If I want to give a gift to someone, I would certainly take these two books. I love to promote and publish Islamic teachings. Thus, I sold such books very cheap or gave others for free. Some of the books were special for a particular class. For instance, I published the book “Tazkereh” by Allamah. It took some third years that the book was sold or I still have the book “Mofradat Raqeb”.
Chitchian referred to his martyred son and added, “With the breakout of the Iraqi imposed war against Iran, I had the concern that we had to fulfill our obligations to the Islamic Revolution and gave my son Mohsen in the way of God early in the war. Mohsen had lots of cultural activities and had set up libraries around Darvazeh Qar and Hassan Abad neighborhoods.”
The fate of the books remained in storehouse
The manager of Mortezavi Publications said, “I have been active in the area of publication for several decades and today, I became very sad when I think that these books would remain in storehouses after me and there is nobody to deliver them to the interested people. My children are involved in their own work and life and I don’t know what fate is waiting for the books after me!”
In the end, he said, “If I was supposed to be born again and choose the way of my life, I again would choose bookselling and the publication of Islamic teachings which is the best job.”
The first meeting of the new round of the meetings of “Oral History of Book” was held on Wednesday 12th of April 2017 attended by Haj Beitollah Radkhah (Mashmachi), the manager of Tehran-Tabriz Publications, the second meeting on Wednesday 19th of April 2017 attended by Jamshid Esmaeiliyan, the Manager of Parto Publications, and the third meeting on Wednesday 26th of April 2017 attended by Abolqassem Ashraf-ol Ketabi, the Manager of Ashrafi Publications.
Also, the first round of the meetings of “Oral History of Book” was held with the attempt of Nasrollah Haddadi in the Institute of House of Book since October 2014 to the summer of 2015. The result of the books has been published in a book by the Institute of House of Book entitled “Oral History of Book” in 560 pages.
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