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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 2022
Mohammad Ali Mojtahedi occupies a prominent place in the development of modern education in Iran. Yet, though not a politician, his influence exceeded far beyond education into the social and political life of contemporary Iran. Deeply convinced of the central role of education in development, his career made important contributions to changes in the landscape of modern education in Iran at both high school and university levels. Within this context, the paper traces the outlines of Mojtahedi's life and work from his birth in 1908 in the city of Lahijan in the northern province of Gilan, up to his death in 1997 in southern France. The paper's most seminal contribution covers the events of the period between the summer of 1964, when Mojtahedi was director of Tehran Polytechnic, and his dismissal in February 1967 by the shah as the head of Aryamehr (now Sharif) University which were closely related to the unsuccessful attempt on the shah's life in April 1965.
1 Hosein Mahjubi, unpublished interview with the author, 2008.
2 Mojtahedi, Letter to Arzpeyma, dated May 1978.
3 Lajvardi, Habib, Tarikh-e Shafahi-e Iran, Khaterat-e M. A. Mojtahedi (Tehran, 2001).Google Scholar
4 Nejati, Gholamreza, Shast sal Khedmat-o Moqavemat: Khaterat-e Mehdi Bazagan (Tehran, 1996), 164.Google Scholar
5 Mojtahedi, M. A., Khaterat-e Man Baraye Javanan-e Keshvar (undated and unpublished).Google Scholar
6 The point is stated in the letter from the Ministry to the University of Tehran dated 5 October 1938, Ref. 1633.
7 Letter from Ministry to University of Tehran, 5 October 1938.
8 See Fauvel Collection, List of items bequeathed by John Fauvel and held by the Open University Library on behalf of the British for the History of Mathematics.
9 Lajvardi, Tarikh-e Shafahi-e Iran, 26.
10 The judgment is based on the data available about the graduates of the period indicated, including the recorded history of the professors at the University of Tehran.
11 Ibid.
12 Mojtahedi, unpublished recorded interview with Reza Niazmand, 1990.
13 Nejati, Shast sal Khedmat-o Moqavemat.
14 Mojtahedi, unpublished recorded interview with Reza Niazmand, 1990.
15 Alborz High School, Sade-Name (1973).
16 Alborz High School, Sade-Name.
17 Alborz High School, Sade-Name.
18 Mojtahedi, unpublished interview with the author, 1990.
19 Zeyn-alabedin Motamen, unpublished interview with the author, 2005.
20 Reza Nyazmand, unpublished interview with Mojtahedi, 1990.
21 Yaghmaee, Eqbal, Ministers of Science and Culture of Iran (Tehran, 1996).Google Scholar
22 Mojtahedi, Khaterat.
23 See further, Katouzian, Homa, The Persians: Ancient, Mediaeval and Modern Iran (New Haven, CT and London, 2009);Google Scholar Katouzian, Homa, “The Short-Term Society: A Study in the Long-Term Political and Economic Development in Iran”, Middle Eastern Studies, 40, no. 1 (January 2004): 1–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
24 Lajvardi, Tarikh-e Shafahi-e Iran,.
25 Mojtahedi, unpublished interview with the author, 1990.
26 The Assassination of the Shah: The Marble Palace Incident (Tehran, 1999).
27 Katouzian, Homa, The Political Economy of Modern Iran (London, 1981).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
28 Lajvardi, Tarikh-e Shafahi-e Iran.
29 Sahabi, Ezzat-allah, Neem Qarn Khatere va Tajrobe (Tehran, 1988), 141–42.Google Scholar
30 I am grateful to Homa Katouzian for suggesting the role of the Marble Palace incident in founding the Aryamehr University of Technology.
31 The Assassination of the Shah, 24.
32 Nyazmand interview, 1990.
33 Lajvardi, Tarikh-e Shafahi-e Iran.
34 The Assassination of the Shah, 215.
35 Katouzian, The Political Economy of Modern Iran, 239.
36 The Assassination of the Shah.
37 Lajvardi, Tarikh-e Shafahi-e Iran.
38 Lajvardi, Tarikh-e Shafahi-e Iran, 118.
39 Lajvardi, Tarikh-e Shafahi-e Iran.
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41 Lakestani, Teymour, Khaterat (Tehran, 2007), 150–51.Google Scholar
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43 Lajvardi, Tarikh-e Shafahi-e Iran.
44 The author, as a student, was present at the event.
45 Lakestani, Khaterat.
46 Nyazmand interview, 1990.
47 Lajvardi, Tarikh-e Shafahi-e Iran.
48 Lajvardi, Tarikh-e Shafahi-e Iran, 180.
