Mehdi Semsar was a prominent Iranian journalist and translator.
Life and career
Mehdi Semsar was born in 1929 in Bushehr a port of Persian Gulf. He passed his childhood and high school studies in Shiraz, the capital of Fars Province, in the south of Iran and completed his university studies in Tehran University. At Tehran University, Mehdi Semsar entered the Faculty of Pharmacy and received his PhD degree. Since he was extremely interested in journalism and because Kayhan Newspapers contracted him during his studies of pharmacology, he entered the Faculty of Journalism of Tehran University and received a M.A. in journalism. He continued his studies of journalism at the Institut Français de Press in Paris. He left the Institut with a M.A. degree and was then accepted at Toulouse University for a PhD degree in History of Journalism. He prepared his doctorat dissertation under the title of "Iranian Press during the second World War". Mehdi Semsar's professional life in journalism began actually in 1949 when Kayhan contracted him as their parliamentary correspondent. In 1954 he became Head of foreign news, 1958 he was the Managing Editor, in 1962 Deputy Editor and in 1967 he was named Editor in Chief of Kayhan and Editor of Kayhan International. In 1972, he became Vice-President Kayhan Group of Newspapers. He left Kayhan in 1974 due to political pressures. In 1976 he became Director and Editor in Chief of the newly created newspaper Rastakhiz. Mehdi Semsar died in Paris on January 15, 2003 and was buried at Montparnasse Cemetery.
Other activities
By translating approximately fifty historical, political and cultural books, Mehdi Semsar greatly contributed to younger Iranian generations' understanding of world affairs and western civilization. Translation was initially a hobby and became a full-time activity at the end of his life. Most of these translations included a long preface written by himself and explaining the interest of the book, author or historical period.
Omid Journalism Award
In 2007, Guity Elahi established the Omid Journalism Prize in memory of her husband Mehdi Semsar. The awardees have included Masih Alinejad and Hadi Heidari.
