Publishing in Iran; Before and After Amir Kabir Publications

Abdul Rahim (Taghi) Jafari, the owner and founder of Amir Kabir Publications, who had fallen into a coma on Friday, passed away on Saturday, October 2, at Iranmehr Hospital in Tehran. Mr. Jafari was 96 years old at the time of his death. Amir Kabir Publications began its activities in 1949 in a building on Nasser Khosrow Street in Tehran. In 1979, by the order of the Islamic Revolutionary Court, the Islamic Propagation Organization seized Amir Kabir Publications. Mr. Jafari spent years trying to reclaim his assets, and this case is still being pursued by his family. Abdul Rahim Jafari wrote his autobiography and memoirs from the establishment to the confiscation of Amir Kabir Publications and Khwarazmi Publications in a three-volume series titled 'In Search of Dawn,' the third volume of which has not been allowed to be published in Iran. Radio Farda, in an interview with Ali Dehbaashi, editor of the Bokhara magazine in Tehran, discussed the role of Abdul Rahim Jafari and Amir Kabir Publications in the Iranian publishing industry: Ali Dehbaashi: About two years ago, when we dedicated one of the Bokhara nights to him, I said there is no doubt that Abdul Rahim Jafari, alongside many other transformative figures, is one of the builders of modern Iran. Iranian publishing is divided into before and after Amir Kabir Publications. What existed as publishing was primitive with limited print runs and titles. However, over several decades, Abdul Rahim Jafari completely transformed the structure of publishing in Iran. What did he do with Iranian publishing that marks Amir Kabir Publications as a turning point? We faced a publishing house that completely introduced printing techniques and equipment that made our books equivalent to or even more advanced than foreign books. In terms of editing, (of course, Homayoun San'ati Zadeh was the innovator of editing), but private publishers did not pursue this work. Mr. Jafari's production unit was very active, and prominent editors were trained who are now among the great writers and translators of this time. In terms of graphics, the books that came out were so shabby and poorly designed that it seemed like twenty years had passed since their publication. He employed young graphic designers like Ebrahim Haqiqi and Morteza Memar to transform the cover and interior graphics of the books. Another point is the diversity of titles that Mr. Jafari had in his publishing house. In the field of cultural lexicography, he was the first publisher of Iran. The eight-volume dictionary by Dr. Mohammad Moein or the six-volume, four-volume, and two-volume English-Persian dictionaries by Aryanpour. In other words, a series of dictionaries can be divided into before and after Amir Kabir Publications. What existed as publishing was primitive with limited print runs and titles. However, over several decades, Abdul Rahim Jafari completely transformed the structure of publishing in Iran. He introduced new events. Amir Kabir Publications published over 3000 titles. In the early 1970s, it was recognized as the largest publisher in the Middle East. At that time, there was an institution called the Board of Trustees of Public Libraries, whose head was Dr. Mohammad Amin Riahi. Naturally, they would buy a number of books from each publisher for public libraries. Amir Kabir had many titles, reference books, and important books. Some, like everyone else, bought from him. In short, for the first time in Iran, he presented the book publishing industry as an economic issue. Did Mr. Jafari have a prior background? Did he engage in specific activities before becoming a publisher that allowed him to bring that thought and idea into the publishing profession? He worked in a printing house since childhood. He was a worker in the early printing houses of that time and later worked at Ali Akbar Elmi Publications, where he later became the son-in-law. In his youth, he independently started his first publishing house, his first books, and his first shop. What was the government's view at that time, in the years before the revolution, regarding Mr. Jafari's activities? He received government assistance to the extent that all publishers did. Of course, at that time, the paper situation was not as it is now, [with] state and non-state pricing. The issue was that he had many titles of educational books. He had several hundred titles of university books. He had managed to become acquainted with a large number of university professors in technical, humanities, medical, and literary fields, and they provided their university books to Amir Kabir Publications. Amir Kabir could publish low-selling books based on a series of books that other publishers could not do. However, Mr. Dehbaashi, what happened that in the years after the Islamic Revolution, Mr. Jafari and his activities faced misunderstandings from the government that emerged from the revolution? In the first months after the revolution, a reputable publisher like Amir Kabir had connections with the ruling apparatus. This apparatus could be the Ministry of Culture and Art, and for example, it had printed a Shahnameh or the Quran, and during the unveiling of this book, some of the government officials attended, and there were photos of them, and in that revolutionary fervor of the early months, a case was made against him, and he went to court but was acquitted of many charges.