TEHRAN -- The giant statue of Amir Kabir found its final home at Tehran’s Mellat Park, at the entrance of the park, right above the stairs where busts of other Iranian luminaries are located.

The bronze sculpture of Mirza Taqi Khan Farahani, best known as Amir Kabir (1807-1852), the prime minister of the Qajar king Nasser ad-Din Shah, was created by Abolhassan Seddiqi in Italy before the Islamic Revolution and has finally come home 32 years later.
The choice of location to install the giant sculpture provoked much controversy. Fereidun Seddiqi, the son of deceased sculptor was convinced that Golestan Palace, where Amir Kabir once served as prime minister of Iran, was the best place for the giant sculpture of Amir Kabir.
However, the final decision was to situate the over 3 meter-high sculpture at Mellat Park. The ceremony took place at the park on Monday where a group of officials and interested artists attended.
Director of the Art and Cultural Organization of Tehran Municipality Mohammad-Javad Shushtari, Tehran Municipality’s Statue Office director Mojtaba Musavi, and Seddiqi’s son Fereidun were observed among the participants.
Musavi made the opening speech and talked about the efforts it took to bring the statue back home.
Shushtari next referred to the lofty achievements made by Amir Kabir over the years and talked about the impressive sculptures crafted by Seddiqi.
“My father first made the huge artwork in several small pieces at a factory in Florence to be assembled later, but he returned to Iran during the revolution and the sculpture was left there with an undetermined fate,” Fereidun had said earlier.
“The Association of National Works was disbanded after the revolution and the required funding was not provided to the factory owner who in return kept the artwork for himself in his factory all these years,” he had explained.
Several months ago, when director Musavi made a trip to Italy to pursue the case, he found out that the owner was dead and the sculpture was still in the workshop of the factory. Furthermore, the owner’s son was no longer interested in keeping the sculpture.
Iran’s embassy in Italy pursued the issue, and through the efforts made by the Iranian ambassador and Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf, the huge sculpture has been returned to Iran after 32 years.
Abolhassan Seddiqi was born in 1894 in Tehran. He was intensely interested in painting and left school to study art in Kamalolmolk’s school. Kamalolmolk was astonished upon seeing Seddiqi’s first statues and dedicated a workshop to him in his school.
Seddiqi created many statues of great Iranian luminaries and other great artwork during his time in Italy. In 1991, the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO decided to take photos of Seddiqi’s statues and published a book on his creations three years later.
Ferdowsi’s statue situated in Ferdowsi Square, and Khayyam’s statue set up in Tehran’s Laleh Park, are other noteworthy credits by Seddiqi.
Seddiqi passed away in 1995, one year after his book was published.
Photo: The statue of Amir Kabir created by Abolhassan Seddiqi 32 years ago was installed at Tehran’s Mellat Park on October 11, 2010. (Mehr/Amir Kholusi)
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