‘Something of an Autobiography’

In this chapter I wish to place the short but exceptionally rich and important life of Jalal Al-e Ahmad (1923–69) in the context of the most vital events of his deeply consequential life. Born during the waning years of the Qajar dynasty (1789–1925) and dead at the age of forty-six, soon after the June 1963 uprising of Ayatollah Khomeini against Mohammad Reza Shah, Al-e Ahmad lived an enduringly influential life, leaving his indelible mark on the fate of his homeland. His intellectual and political career began at a very young age in his late teens, and he died of a sudden stroke at the prime of his literary and intellectual productivities.