About Zabih Behrouz
Lived 1890 – 1971 (aged 81). Zabih Behrouz was an Iranian writer, poet, linguist and playwright.
Zabih Behrouz (; 17 July 1890 – 12 December 1971) was an Iranian scholar, mathematician, etymologist, linguist, astronomer, and playwright. Son of the physician and calligrapher Abu’l-Fażl Sāvajī, he was born in Tehran but studied in Egypt and England. In Cambridge University he was the assistant of Edward Granville Browne, British orientalist and researcher. Behrouz returned to Iran in 1923, and a year later, he started to write some plays. Jijak Alishah was one of his first plays. It was about the tyrannical monarchy of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar. His plays were mostly critical and in his plays, he criticized tyranny and hypocrisy. Behrouz usually used historical characters from the past for talking about his time. He also wrote some books about Persian language and alphabet and Iranian history.
The establishment of the Persian language academy called Farhangestan, in October 1936, occurred during Ali Asghar Hekmat’s tenure as minister of culture. The academy was initiated and later partially inspired by the work of Zabih Behrouz in developing a pure Persian lexicon for the military.
To propagate his ideas, Behrouz founded, with the help of two of his disciples, Mohammad Moqaddam (later professor of Old Persian at the University of Tehran) and Sadeq Kia (later professor of Middle Persian and a deputy minister of culture and the arts), the «Iran-Vij Society», whose series of publications, Īrān-kūda (;), became the main vehicle for Behrūz’s thoughts.
Some of his plays Jijak Alishah Iranian king and Armenian lady In the way of Mehr (1933) The night of Ferdosi Medicine Man
Other works Persian and Arabic languages Grandeur religion Writing system and culture Calendar and history in Iran tall boy(ebne dilagh)
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Important facts
People in Zabih Behrouz's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
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Frequently asked questions
Who was Zabih Behrouz?
Iranian writer, poet, linguist and playwright (1890-1971)
When was Zabih Behrouz born?
Zabih Behrouz was born on 17 July 1890 in Tehran.
When did Zabih Behrouz die?
Zabih Behrouz died on 12 December 1971 in Tehran.
What was Zabih Behrouz's occupation?
Zabih Behrouz was a writer, poet, linguist and playwright.
What nationality was Zabih Behrouz?
Zabih Behrouz was Iranian.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Zabih Behrouz. https://biography.guide/zabih-behrouz/
MLA: "Zabih Behrouz." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/zabih-behrouz/.
Chicago: "Zabih Behrouz." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/zabih-behrouz/.
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