Al-e Ahmad, Writer of Social Ills
Jalal Al-e Ahmad was born in 1923 in a religious family in Tehran and spent his career as a writer among his people.
He joined various groups to help people but none of them could satisfy him; finally he chose to teach at school.
Several years later, he published his first work entitled “Visit and Revisit.” He had an independent style of writing and was hardly impressed by his contemporary writers. His works are mainly focused on social problems, struggle against dictators, and support for people.
In his book “The Pain We Suffer,” he sympathizes with workers and political figures under the government pressure. In the stories of “Setar” and “Extra Wife” he depicts ignorance, prejudice, and poverty, while “The Story of Hives” is a narration of the Iranian society when oil industry was nationalized.
Al-e Ahmad was a well-known intellectual. He wrote one of his best works, partly autobiographical, entitled “The School Principal,” which is the story of a school principal who seeks a shelter after several years of hardship in society but becomes frustrated.
Al-e Ahmad is also a successful critic whose works include “Hasty Evaluation,” and “Plagued by the West.” His travelogue “Lost in the Crowd” narrates his hajj trip in an artistic language.
He died on September 9, 1969 in Assalem, Gilan Province.