TEHRAN - Yesterday was the anniversary of the death of Allameh Ali Akbar Dehkhoda.

Dehkhoda was a brilliant figure of Iranian literature, a creator of a Persian lexicon, a writer, a translator, and a journalist.

Ali Akbar Dehkhoda was born in 1919 in Tehran.

He was 9 when his father died. He was raised and educated by his mother. He later studied with the great masters of his time.

He studied literature with Hossein Foroughi and Gholamhossein Boroujerdi and then studied political science.

Besides his literary activities, Dehkhoda was also active in politics.

In 1946, he began publishing ***Souresrafil*** newspaper in Tehran with the cooperation of Mirza Jahangir Khan Shirazi and Mirza Qasem Khan Tabrizi.

The most attractive part of the paper was the humor column, which was entitled 'Charand-O-Parand' and which was written by Dehkhoda and signed "Dakho". The column contained Dehkhoda's political commentary, written in a unique style which created a new school of journalism in Iran and the Persian language.

He was eventually exiled to Paris because of his scathing articles.

He continued his literary activities during his years of exile and published ***Souresrafil***and ****Soroush****.

After his return to Iran, he continued his activities, writing books and compiling and editing his Persian lexicon.

Dehkhoda's Lexicon is the largest Persian lexicon. He spent over 40 years compiling this book. It is now used as a reference book for literary works and research.

He has written many books and poems and translated many books such as "Ruh-ul Qavanin".

He passed away on February 26, 1995.