Bagher Parham Information

Bagher Parham (July 1, 1935 – May 28, 2023) was a translator and researcher in sociology and philosophy. He had lived in Sacramento, California since 2000.

Baqer Parham was born into a poor family in Rudbar, Gilan. His father was a landless farmer. He began his education at a traditional school (Maktab), which led him to start formal schooling directly from the second grade, having already learned to read and write. He completed his primary education at Sirus Elementary School in Rudbar. When his father, who had become an employee of the oil company, was transferred to Rasht, the family moved there, and Parham started sixth grade at Mojdehi School before transferring to Noor Bakhsh High School to pursue literary studies. He graduated from sixth grade in 1956 and moved to Tehran to prepare for the entrance exam of the Daneshsara-ye Ali (Higher Education Institute). He passed the entrance exam in two fields: French Language and Philosophy and Educational Sciences, choosing the latter. From 1956 to the fall of 1959, he studied at the Daneshsara-ye Ali. After obtaining his bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and Educational Sciences, he fulfilled a five-year teaching obligation in Kashan, where he taught in high schools.

Before moving to Kashan, Parham had participated in a research project at the Institute for Social Studies and Research for several months. He joined this institute in 1964. In 1967, he received a scholarship from the French government. In the fall of 1967, he went to Paris and enrolled at Nanterre University in the northwest suburbs of Paris to pursue a Ph.D. in sociology. However, he soon abandoned the scholarship and returned to Iran. At the beginning of the 1970 academic year, he received another scholarship and returned to Paris, enrolling at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS), with Alain Touraine as his advisor. After twenty-six months, he defended his doctoral dissertation on “Reconstruction of Earthquake-Stricken Areas of Ferdows” before the jury at Paris Descartes University in mid-winter 1973, earning the degree with high honors and returning to Iran.

The faculty council of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Tehran approved his appointment as an assistant professor of sociology. The faculty’s request for approval was sent to the University Council of Tehran, which agreed, but the SAVAK (Iran’s secret police) opposed his appointment.

Although Parham was not aligned with the Tudeh Party of Iran, he was convicted of communist sympathies and sent to Qasr Prison. Parham was a member of the Iranian Writers’ Association. Baqer Parham was an influential Iranian intellectual from the 1960s onward, known for his significant translations, including works of major figures in philosophy and social sciences, as well as for his activism. Faraj Sarkohi, an Iranian leftist literary critic and journalist, described him as one of the “most thoughtful and creative Iranian intellectuals,” “an influential figure in the Writers’ Association,” and “one of the best translators of difficult and important texts into Persian.” Mashallah Ajudani, a writer and critic, Farshin Kazemi Nia, a researcher, and Mohsen Yalfani, a playwright and member of the Iranian Writers’ Association board, also praised him as “brave and upright,” “a full-fledged intellectual,” and “capable and perceptive.”

Baqer Parham passed away on May 28, 2023, at the age of 87 in Sacramento, California.