Sohrab Sepehri

Sohrab Sepehri  (October 7, 1928 – April 21, 1980) was a notable Persian poet and a painter.He was born in Kashan Iran. After obtaining his high school diploma, he attended and obtained a Bachelor of Arts from Honar-haye Ziba (Fine Arts) Faculty of Tehran University. In the first twelve years after his graduation he worked in several government agencies while on the side pursuing his personal interest in poetry and painting. During these years he also travelled on numerous occasions to Europe, and Africa.

In 1964 he completely resigned from his governmental position and began focusing all his time and energy on poetry and painting. He moved and lived in USA for one year, and subsequently spent about two years living in Paris. During this time period he painted numerous paintings applying the same soft and gentle style, which can be found in his poems.

In 1979 he was diagnosed with cancer and for the last time he moved to England for treatment. A year later, in 1980, he passed away in Tehran and now he rests in his birthplace, Kashan.

He hosted a painting exhibition – Tehran 1944
He published his first poetry book that followed by a few other books in the same year – 1951
He graduated from the fine arts university with B.A. degree in painting – Tehran – 1953
He translated some Japanese poetry into Persian and published them in a literary magazine called Sokhan – 1955
He traveled to Paris and attended the Paris Fine Arts School in lithography – 1957
He traveled to Tokyo to further his studies in lithography and wood carving – 1960
On the way back to Iran from Japan, he visited India and became familiar with the ideology of Buddhism – 1961
He published three books in poetry – 1960
He traveled to India again and visited several cities and provinces – 1964
He traveled to Pakistan and Afghanistan 1964
He traveled to Europe and visited several countries such as Germany,England,France,Spain,the Netherlands,Italy and Austria – 1966
He published some long poems after he returned to Iran – 1966
He hosted a painting exhibition in Tehran 1967
He published another book in poetry 1967
He traveled to Greece and Egypt – 1974
He published his final book called ‘Hasht Ketab’ (Eight Books), which was the collection of almost all of his published poems in one volume – 1976
He got blood cancer and traveled to England for treatment – 1978
Unfortunately, his attempt to defeat cancer brought him no result. He returned to Iran and died in Pars Hospital in Tehran on Monday April 21, 1980.