Abbas Khalili
{{Short description|Iraqi-born Iranian newspaper publisher, novelist, and diplomat}}
{{use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Abbas Khalili
| image = Abbas Khalili.jpg
| caption = Khalili in the 1960s
| native_name = عباس الخليلي
| other_names = Abbas al-Khalili, Abbas Khalīlī, Abbās Khalili, Ali Fatiy-al-Eslām, Ḵalili-e Arab
| birth_name = Abbas ibn Asadullah bin Ali al-Khalili al-Najaf
| birth_date = {{circa}} {{birth date text|1895}}
| birth_place = Najaf, Ottoman Empire
(present-day Najaf, Iraq)
| death_date = 10 February {{Death year and age|1972|1895}}
| death_place = Tehran, Imperial State of Iran
| burial_place = Behesht-e Zahra
| occupation = diplomat, newspaper publisher, poet, novelist
| party = National Front (Iran)
| spouse = {{plainlist|
- Fahr-Ozma Arghun,
- Māhmoneer Moeini-Azad
}}
| children = 6, including Simin Behbahani
Mahyār Khalili
}}
Abbas ibn Asadullah bin Ali al-Khalili al-Najafi,{{Cite web|last=Al-Hadithi|first=Suleiman|date=12 June 2015|script-title=ar:عباس بن أسد الله .. عراقي من النجف يعشق الشعر النجدي|trans-title=Abbas bin Assad Allah.. An Iraqi from Najaf loves Najdi poetry|url=https://www.aleqt.com/2015/06/12/article_965137.html |access-date=2021-05-18|script-website=ar:صحيفة الاقتصادية (Al Mashraq)|language=ar}} also known as Abbas al-Khalili, and Abbas Khalili ({{langx|fa|عباس الخلیلی، عباس خلیلی}}; 1895 or 1896 – 10 February 1972){{Cite encyclopedia |last=Mirʿābedini |first=Ḥasan |title=Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica |date=December 15, 2010 |entry=ḴALILI, ʿABBĀS |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/kalili-abbas |access-date=2021-07-20|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica, XV/4 |pages=397–399 |language=en-US}} was an Iraqi-born Iranian diplomat, newspaper publisher, poet and novelist. He was a pillar of the Najaf revolt over the British Mandate in 1918, and was sentenced to death, eventually fleeing to Iran, where spent the rest of his life. The Iranian government's criticism of his newspaper and writing intensified. By 1949, the Iranian government sent him as the Iranian Emperor's ambassador to the Ethiopian Empire and Yemen.
Early life and family
Abbas Khalili was born in Najaf, Iraq on either 1895 or 1896. His family was religious and his father was Islamic cleric Sheikh Asad-Allāh. His brother was poet {{Interlanguage link|جعفر الخليلي|lt=Jaafar al-Khalili|ar}}. His uncle was Islamic scholar {{Interlanguage link|میرزا حسین خلیلی تهرانی|lt=Mirza Hossein Khalili Tehrani|fa}}.
During World War I (in 1918), the British occupied Iraq, which eventually lead to a resistance movement. Khalili was one of the twelve leaders of the Siege of Najaf (1918) in a group called the Society for Islamic Movement (Farsi: Jamʿiyat-e nahżat-e eslāmi; also known as The League of the Islamic Awakening in British publications). After the defeat of this uprising, he was sentenced to death by the British occupying forces, but after an adventurous trip, he managed to escape to Iran. For three years he was living in Rasht, and using the pseudonym Ali Fatiy-al-Eslām. Because of his accent speaking Farsi, he was nicknamed by locals Ḵalili-e Arab (English: Kalili the Arab).
Career
= Government work, politics =
From 1922 until 1929, Ḵalili worked as a translator in the Iranian Legal Office of the Ministry of Justice (Edāra-ye ḥoquqi-e Wezārat-e ʿadliya).
Khalili served several government roles and he was appointed in 1949 as the Iranian Embassy in Yemen and Ethiopian Empire.{{Cite web|date=July 5, 2013|script-title=fa:عباس خلیلی |trans-title=Abbas Khalili|url=http://rijaldb.com/fa/11861/%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B3+%D8%AE%D9%84%DB%8C%D9%84%DB%8C |access-date=2021-07-19|website=Rijal Database}} He was active in the formation of the Iranian political party National Front (during the second front) in November 1958.
= Newspaper publishing, editing, writing =
He was a newspaper editor and publisher; he worked as an Arabic translator for {{Interlanguage link|رعد امروز|lt=Raad Emrooz|fa}}, and he founded {{Interlanguage link|اقدام (روزنامه)|lt=Eqdām|fa}} newspaper.{{Cite book|last=Sadr Hashemi|first=Mohammad|script-title=fa:تاريخ جرائد و مجلات ايران|volume=1|location=Esfahan, Iran|pages=226–229|language=fa|trans-title=History of Iranian Newspapers and Magazines}}{{Cite journal|last=Elwell-Sutton|first=L. P.|date=1968|title=The Iranian Press, 1941-1947|jstor=4299603|journal=Iran|volume=6|pages=65–104|doi=10.2307/4299603|issn=0578-6967}} The Eqdām newspaper was considered an extremist and critical, which upset some and by 1927 the paper was suspended. He was also involved in working for the Iranian Baladiya newspaper, and Bahār monthly literary journal.
Khalili wrote poetry in both Persian and Arabic and has translated about 1100 verses of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh into Arabic and also published several novels. His novels all featured narration, often with the narrator being a woman telling a sad story.
Personal life
Khalili was married four times, his first wife was {{Interlanguage link|فخرعظمی ارغون|lt=Fahr-Ozma Arghun|fa}} (née Khalatbari) in 1924, which ended in divorce by 1931.{{Cite news|last=Martin|first=Douglas|date=2014-08-22|title=Simin Behbahani, Outspoken Iranian Poet, Dies at 87|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/22/arts/international/simin-behbahani-outspoken-iranian-poet-dies-at-87.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=2021-07-19|issn=0362-4331}} His second wife was Māhmoneer Moeini-Azad. He had four sons, Mahyar, Shahyar, Kamyab, Faryar and two daughters, including poet Simin Behbahani in 1927.{{Cite encyclopedia |entry=Behbahani, Simin (1927–)|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/international/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/behbahani-simin-1927 |access-date=2021-07-19|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia.com}}
Bibliography
= Short stories, articles =
- {{Cite book|last=Khalili|first=Abbas|title=Ruzgār-e siāh|language=fa|date=October 1921}}
- {{Cite book|last=Khalili|first=Abbas|title=Enteqām|year=1925|series=Eqdām|location=Tehran, Iran|language=fa|trans-title=Revenge}}
- {{Cite book|last=Khalili|first=Abbas|title=Asrār-e šab|year=1926|series=Eqdām|location=Tehran, Iran|language=fa|trans-title=Mysteries of the Night}}
- {{Cite book|last=Khalili|first=Abbas|title=Dāstān-e emruz|year=1931|series=Eqdām|location=Tehran, Iran|language=fa|trans-title=Today's Story}}
- {{Cite book|last=Khalili|first=Abbas|title=Šārlot|year=1931|series=Eqdām|location=Tehran, Iran|language=fa|trans-title=Charlotte}}
- {{Cite book|last=Khalili|first=Abbas|title=Čāl-e gāv|year=1931|series=Eqdām|location=Tehran, Iran|language=fa|trans-title=The Pit of a Cow}}
- {{Cite book|last=Khalili|first=Abbas|title=Fajāyeʾ|year=1932|series=Eqdām|location=Tehran, Iran|language=fa|trans-title=Tragedies}}
= Novels, books =
- {{Cite book|last=Khalili|first=Abbas|title=Ḵiālāt|year=1930|location=Tehran, Iran|language=fa|trans-title=Illusions|type=collection of short stories}}
- {{Cite book|last=Khalili|first=Abbas|title=Pir-Čāk-e Irāni|year=1922|location=Tehran, Iran|language=fa|trans-title=Iranian Pir-Chak}}
- {{Cite book|last=Khalili|first=Abbas|title=Pir-Čāk-e Hendi|year=1927|location=Tehran, Iran|language=fa|trans-title=Indian Pir-Chak}}
- {{Cite book|last=Khalili|first=Abbas|title=Ensān|year=1925|location=Tehran, Iran|language=fa|trans-title=Mankind}}
References
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{{Commons category}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Khalili, Abbas}}
Category:Ambassadors of Iran to Ethiopia
Category:Iranian newspaper publishers (people)
Category:Leaders of the National Front (Iran)
Category:20th-century Iranian diplomats
Category:Iraqi multilingual poets
Category:Iraqi emigrants to Iran