Najaf Daryabandari

Najaf Daryabandari was a contemporary Iranian translator and writer known for his profound contributions to bringing American and Western literature to Persian readers. Self-taught in English through his early exposure to the British presence in Abadan’s oil industry, he began his literary career with the translation of Hemingway’s “A Farewell to Arms.” Despite facing imprisonment for his political activities, Daryabandari deepened his intellectual pursuits by translating Bertrand Russell’s “History of Western Philosophy” while incarcerated. He later worked as an editor and translator for Franklin Publishing, rendering classics such as “The Old Man and the Sea” and “Huckleberry Finn” into Persian. His translations and writings, including works by William Faulkner, Isaiah Berlin, and Khalil Gibran, alongside his forays into culinary writing, reveal a versatile and dedicated literary figure whose influence shaped modern Iranian literary culture.